On December 12, 2011, the Gadap Town Police in Karachi, the Provincial capital of Sindh, rescued 53 children chained in an underground dungeon at a seminary, the Jamia Masjid Zakaria Kandhelwi Madrassa Arabia, situated in the Afghan Basti in the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi. These children had been chained for 30 days. Unearthing tales of torture, the Police revealed that the chained captives received indoctrination from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) instructors, preparing them to join the outfit’s ‘jihad’ (holy war) on the Afghan front. One of the rescued students stated, "We are being made mujahedeen (holy warriors) here. We are being made Taliban here. They say you should get training... we will send you to fight." An unnamed Police official told the Press, "The rescued students included kids as young as seven years old and 21 teenagers,'' and further revealed that the chained students were beaten and barely fed.

First published in the South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR)

Abba Eban, Israel’s former foreign minister observed that Palestinians "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" [for peace]. This aphorism could well fit Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

It is imperative that the United States take drastic measures to change AfPak, as it is clearly not working. Afghans are frustrated with the U.S. presence, as are many Pakistanis. Washington must understand that U.S. national security does not lie solely on having physical presence in South Asia, as whenever mistakes occur, it not only destroys months and years of great hard work undertaken by the indefatigable U.S. military, whose commitment to bring a better tomorrow for South Asia has been commendable, but instead fosters anti-Americanism, which ultimately undermines U.S. national security.

First published by INSCT on Security - link to initial publication.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is once again at a dead end. Achieving real progress towards sustainable peace requires reorienting the existing diplomatic paradigm in a manner that will help Palestinians build the functioning, democratic state they deserve, while ensuring Israelis have a stable, responsible neighbor they can trust. Europe is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in building sustainable peace, but only if it is prepared to dramatically raise its expectations of the Palestinians and condition recognition of a Palestinian state on ex ante achievement of responsible sovereignty.

First published by Carnegie Europe, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, September, 23 2011

Clearly, the dramatic changes the Israel-Turkey relationship have undergone over the past three years have a lot to do with the man who has been prime minister of Turkey since 2003. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been especially outspoken in his criticism of Israel, and has pushed what were until recently close diplomatic and military relations to the verge of a complete break. What makes Erdogan tick?

First published by Haaretz

A decade after the most severe terrorist attack in human history, that has at once moved the world's largest democracy from a state of peace free of security concerns to a state of on-going war, is an appropriate period of time for a comparative analysis of the difference between the anti-terrorism strategies of both American administrations – Bush and Obama. On the face of it both American presidents dictated the American security forces a different policy, however the difference in the anti-terrorism strategy of the two American administrations does not stem from different world views or different values but rather from the different emphasis, originating first and foremost, from a different perspective on the September 11 trauma.

Based on an Op-Ed originally published in Israel Hayom in Hebrew.

Israel’s decision not to abide by the Turkish ultimatum about the need to apologize for the May 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident brought the promised “Plan B” punishment: Turkey has decided to expel Israel’s ambassador to Ankara, downgrade its diplomatic ties to the lowest possible level, to hold on all military agreements and to halt trade between Turkey and Israel.

First published by The Jerusalem Post  - link to initial publication.

In July 2010, the UN General Assembly established UNWomen – the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The decision to establish a single UN body dealing with gender stemmed from a realization that the campaign towards gender equality and women’s empowerment need to be more focused, organized and unified. Interestingly over the last few months reports, studies and websites dealing with gender and the status of women have appeared, emphasizing the plight that many women around the world face. These studies make it clear why UNWomen has stated that, “…gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes.” A possible explanation (beyond the male-domination of domestic and international politics) for the lack of substantive progress in promoting women’s rights is that the issue is seen as one of either development or politics. These are considered not to be as important as defense or national security as it is understood in the post-9/11 world. In other words, when there is a clash between defense and development issues, the former always takes precedence. The reality however is that by making gender and women’s empowerment a national security issue, a rapid change in women’s rights would occur especially as in the post-9/11 world it is easier to attain consensus and support for policies and programs when they take place under “national security.”

First published by INSCT on Security - link to initial publication.

The assassination of the mayor of Kandahar Ghulam Haider Hamidi on July 27, which the Taliban has claimed responsibility for is the third assassination of a senior Afghan politician in as many weeks, which seems to indicate a shift in the Taliban’s military strategy.

There are questions as to why the changed has occurred and how the Afghan government, its people and the international forces in Afghanistan should deal with it.

First published by INSCT on Security - link to initial publication.

The wave of uprisings in the Arab world, which began when the wick of popular revolutions was ignited in Tunisia in January 2011, has challenged Al-Qaeda's strategy advocating the waging of an armed and violent campaign for bringing down the Muslim governments.