In 2025, according to governmental data, around 32,000 highly-skilled and highly-qualified Pakistanis registered for employment abroad, equivalent to roughly six per cent of the country’s half a million annual graduates. This number, too, represents only a part of the exodus of Pakistan’s advanced human capital nurtured in the country and now being absorbed into foreign economies.
On 19 January 2026, the three-hour visit of the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to India attracted significant attention due to the potential outcomes it intended to materialise. The visit prospects a deep strategic engagement between the two states across several domains, including defence innovation, industrial development, advanced technology, training, education and counter terrorism.
The United States’ use of brute force to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro marks a turning point for the US foreign policy in the Western hemisphere. The overnight swift execution of the integrated joint operation by the United States Air Force, Navy, Cyber Command and Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) has sent shockwaves in geopolitical hotspots elsewhere.
On the morning of January 3, 2026, the United States carried out an operation against Venezuela: deposing a sitting president Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the heartland of a heavily guarded capital. Although the legality and morality of this operation are highly contested, this article focuses on an equally important dimension, which is the employment of airpower in conflicts.
Trump’s declaration to “run Venezuela” after Maduro’s capture is a seeming promise of a sudden cure to Venezuela’s ills. However, it ignores the nation’s terminal diagnosis of a century of plunder. The rhetoric of imminent revival on the basis of the speedy return of international oil capital and the promise of 100 billion US dollars in reconstruction funds made the intervention seem like a unique opportunity.
Although the SDMA does not identify an adversary, effectively functioning as a deterrent, it cannot be viewed in isolation from the Israeli belligerence in the Middle East. Israel’s war against Hamas has expanded beyond the genocide of Gaza; it has bombed the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and recently Qatar. Tel Aviv’s campaign under the banners of ‘anti-Semitism’ and ‘terrorism’ has engulfed the whole Middle East in a war-like situation, which has generated new enemies and has deepened the instability of the region.
On 15 January 2026, the Pakistani defence production minister confirmed that an agreement for a new trilateral defence deal between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye is in the pipeline, other than the Pakistan-Saudi bilateral deal announced last year.
In October 2025, a JetBlue Airbus A320, flying from Cancun to Newark, encountered an inadvertent pitch down, creating panic and injuries onboard. The crew managed to regain control of the aircraft and made a safe emergency landing at Tampa, Florida. Initial investigations attributed the incident to a malfunction of the aircraft’s ELAC flight computer software, responsible for controlling primary flight controls (elevator and aileron surfaces).
Economic dysfunction has been a consistent reason for riots in recent years. Countries such as Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal, and most recently Iran witnessed mass protests emanating from economic turmoil. Unemployment, inflation, and mismanagement of resources led the masses to express their discontent through protest and strife.
The May 2025 India-Pakistan war played a pivotal role in eroding India’s long-standing notion of conventional superiority. Seven months ahead, the echoes of the conflict continue to shape military choices. The post-crisis environment shows predictable trends, marked by sabre-rattling via hawkish statements by the civil and military leadership, followed by military procurements. Most recently, India has signalled a mega aircraft deal, with the announcement of the induction of 114 Rafales.
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