CASS - Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies

Recent Articles

Here are some of our recent publications

Political Landscape

Pakistan – The Ongoing Crises

12 Aug 2022 Shaza Arif

The recent events in Pakistan have been nothing short of a typical South Asian soap opera with complicated plots and convoluted turns, leaving the public in shock with the unfolding each successive scene. While […]

628 views

Economic Security

Pakistan under Economic Strangulation?

11 Aug 2022 Dr Zia Ul Haque Shamsi

In my previous article, essentiality of political stability for economic security was discussed in detail. However, in this article, significance of economic security as an element of human security that is extremely important for […]

232 views

Government & Politics

Is there a Way Out of the Mess Pakistan is in?

05 Aug 2022 Air Marshal M. Ashfaque Arain (Retd)

Pakistan today is in a situation never witnessed before during the last 75 years. Pakistani rupee is depreciating at an unprecedented rate. The depreciation witnessed just in the last three and a half months […]

236 views

Nuclear

Declining Prospects of US-Russia Arms Control: From Cold War to Ukraine Crisis

02 Aug 2022 Haris Bilal Malik

The United States (US) and Russia are the two largest nuclear weapon states possessing 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenal. During the Cold War, despite being hostile toward each other, both superpowers made significant […]

221 views

Domestic Economy

For a Song

01 Aug 2022 Dr Usman W. Chohan

The government is mulling the sale of shares in prime state-owned companies to foreign owners, and the rationale being provided is that the country must take desperate measures to avoid an imminent default. That […]

199 views

National Narrative

The Essentiality of Political Stability for Economic Security

01 Aug 2022 Dr Zia Ul Haque Shamsi

Political sloganeering during an election campaign is a usual phenomenon across the globe, because according to Carl Von Bismarck’s dictum, “Politics is the art of the possible.” For the same purpose, political actors design […]

231 views

Environment

Pakistan: Heatwave Chars National Well-being

28 Jul 2022 Khansa Qureshi

A brutal heat wave with record high temperatures scorched cities across Pakistan from March till June this year. Sindh’s Nawabshah city recorded 2022’s hottest ever temperature with mercury soaring to 51oC. While hot temperatures […]

215 views

National Narrative

Gilgit-Baltistan: A Just Province

27 Jul 2022 Asad Ullah Khan

Looking Back at History Before the partition of the Indian subcontinent, the present day Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region was part of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), one of the largest states of India. This princely state was […]

284 views

Global Politics

Will Populism Survive in Future Politics?

27 Jul 2022 Shaza Arif

During the Cold War, the world was divided between two distinct and very conflicting ideologies: Capitalism and Communism. The fall of the Soviet Union left a political vacuum in the world order. This vacuum […]

231 views

Regional security/Region

Saudi-Iran Rapprochement: Vital for Middle East’s Security

25 Jul 2022 Zuhaib Anwar

Iran and Saudi Arabia, two regional powers and important members of the Muslim world, have a history of strained relations. Geopolitical contestation between them goes back at least as far as the 1979 Iranian […]

227 views

Emerging Technologies

Towards AI Sentience?

25 Jul 2022 Shaza Arif

Artificial Intelligence or AI continues to amaze us in different ways. The recent episode of Blake Lemoine and the Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) has once again sparked the debate regarding the potential […]

163 views

Warfare and Strategy

The Art and Science of Hybrid War

25 Jul 2022 Dr Zia Ul Haque Shamsi

The concept of hybrid war is not new, rather its tenets include all shades of kinetic and non-kinetic warfare. However, what is new is its scientific application in an artistic manner. The artistic mannerism […]

210 views

Governance

Traffic, Urbanisation & Road Safety: A Case Study of Pakistan

20 Jul 2022 Hassan Mujtaba & Dr Usman W. Chohan

Abstract: Recognising the severe challenge that traffic, urbanisation, and road safety pose for the country, the Government of Pakistan passed the ‘National Transport Policy of Pakistan 2018’ and ‘Pakistan National Road Safety Strategy 2018-2030.’ In […]

162 views

Emerging Technologies

Development of Pakistan’s Space Program

19 Jul 2022 Air Marshal Waseem ud din (Retd) & Dr Ali Javed Hashmi & Abdullah Rehman Butt

Abstract : With space applications and activities growing at an unprecedented pace in recent times, Space has emerged as a critical element of national power. Space applications in science and technology have proven their usefulness […]

190 views

Defense

India’s Hybrid Warfare against Pakistan: Challenges & Response Options

19 Jul 2022 Air Marshal (Retd) M. Ashfaque Arain

Abstract : In modern times, “Hybrid Warfare” has evolved as the most formidable and viable strategy to attain a state’s national objectives with simultaneous use of kinetic and non-kinetic means. This type of warfare […]

428 views

Domestic Economy

Pakistan’s Taxation Conundrum

19 Jul 2022 Dr Usman W. Chohan & Hassan Mujtaba

Abstract: This Issue Paper examines Pakistan’s revenue raising deficiencies and weak fiscal architecture as a security problem, one that requires proactive remedial measures and an effort towards public value co-creation. It examines the current […]

117 views

International Security

New Iron Curtain between Russia and Ukraine

18 Jul 2022 Dr Zia Ul Haque Shamsi

The title is inspired by the phrase coined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and quoted by Ambassador Riaz Khokhar at a seminar on the Ukraine war organised by the Centre for Aerospace & […]

191 views

Warfare and Strategy

Changing Character of Warfare: Lessons for Pakistan from the Russia-Ukraine War

18 Jul 2022 Maheen Shafeeq

Since the Russia-Ukraine war began, analysts around the world have been scrutinising the characteristics of the war as well as its tactical, operational and strategic aspects. They have debated how this war has changed […]

426 views

International Security

Reviewing the Shangri-La Dialogue 2022: What it means for Regional Security

15 Jul 2022 Haris Bilal Malik

The 19th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), one of the premier defence and security dialogues related to the Indo-Pacific region, was recently held in Singapore from 10-12 June 2022. The dialogue, organised by the International […]

167 views

TECHNOLOGY

Democratisation of Technology

15 Jul 2022 Etfa Khurshid Mirza

As technology progresses, it becomes more complicated. At the same time, it becomes easier for users of technology to use and access it. Hence, we can say that technological complexity and its application are […]

393 views

National Narrative

Why Pakistan Should Grant De Facto Provincial Status to Gilgit-Baltistan

14 Jul 2022 Sitara Noor

Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Pakistan’s northern region, connects Pakistan with China and is the starting point of the much-celebrated China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the Pakistani side. Although the region has been under Pakistan’s administrative control […]

199 views

Water Security

Turning the Tide: Water Scarcity Challenges in Pakistan

14 Jul 2022 Zahra Niazi

Water scarcity is undeniably among the most enormous challenges facing mankind today. In Pakistan, this threat remains especially pronounced given the country’s recognition as the front-line nation in terms of vulnerability to climate change, […]

329 views

Water Security

Pakistan’s External & Internal Water Security Challenges

13 Jul 2022 Khansa Qureshi

Pakistan, which was once a water-abundant country, is now facing unprecedented water scarcity mainly due to poor water management practices, population growth, rapid urbanisation, and industrialisation, amongst others. Currently, the country is one of […]

302 views

Kashmir

Jammu & Kashmir under Siege: An Unending Account of Indian Crimes

07 Jul 2022 Asad Ullah Khan

Since coming to power, the Hindu-nationalist BJP government in India has forcibly tried to dismantle the self-proclaimed socially diverse and secular face of the Indian polity. Nowhere has the state oppression against religious minorities […]

235 views