RESEARCH / PUBLICATIONS

The High Cost of Low-Cost Warfare

‘If we don’t figure out a way to fight far more cheaply, we won’t be able to afford to win a single battle.’ This warning from Peter W. Singer, an American strategist, reflects a reality that the arithmetic of warfare has inverted. The economic equation of conflict has changed so rapidly that a USD 500 drone can now target billion-dollar assets of state-of-the-art militaries. Meanwhile, the cost of counter-drone technology has risen to an absurd level. This cost curve has become a greatest vulnerability and a critical weakness for major powers. Consequently, states are indulging in a race not just to build cheaper and expendable drones but also affordable

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Why Afghan Trade Can’t Bypass Pakistan

A year ago, the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce Industry (SCCI) and Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce Industry (PAJCCI) reached a Memorandum of Understanding to boost trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan, only to end in doldrums in 2025. Due to the recent geopolitical tensions between the two states, the Taliban’s minister of commerce declared a trade boycott against Pakistan. While the move is compelled by the geopolitical rift, it is a miscalculated decision given the region’s geographical reality

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Merger of European Space Industry: Lessons for Emerging Space Nations

The announcement on 23 October that Airbus, Thales and Leonardo will merge their satellite operations was a historic development for the European space industry. The plan aims to establish a new combined entity by 2027. Historically, the European space industry has been a competent but fragmented market in the form of national champions and competing initiatives. However,

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Understanding Adversarial AI: The Military Lens

Modern warfare is characterised by the race to compress the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA) loop. Militaries that can process information faster will undoubtedly have an edge in future conflicts. In this context, machine learning (ML), a prominent subset of

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