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911. Gendering Globalization: Imperial Domesticity and Identity in Northern Pakistan

Author:
Nancy Cook
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
In this paper I contribute to the feminist project of developing gendered analyses of globalization by providing a micro-level study of the effects of intersecting gender, racial, and class relations on global processes of cultural imperialism in contemporary northern Pakistan. More specifically, I examine the mutually constitutive link between the structuring of Western women development workers' domestic spaces and identities in Gilgit and imperial processes, what I will call imperial domesticity. Women's gendered rituals of domesticity and strategies of servant management are the key facets of imperial domesticity highlighted in the paper.
Topic:
Civil Society, Gender Issues, and Globalization
Political Geography:
Pakistan and Asia

912. Building Blocks, Stumbling Blocks: Prospects for Peace in Kashmir

Author:
Heather Coyne
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The U.S. Institute of Peace recently hosted Farooq Kathwari, head of the Kashmir Study Group, to discuss the prospects for peace in Kashmir. Kathwari's personal involvement and commitment to the peace process give him a unique ability to see potential for a way around the obstacles in this seemingly intractable conflict. During the session, Chester Crocker, a member of the Kashmir Study Group and a USIP board member, described those obstacles in more depth, providing a framework for analyzing what peacemaking efforts like Kathwari's have been able to achieve and which aspects of the process remain fragile. This USIPeace Briefing highlights the central points made during that discussion and does not represent the views of the Institute, which does not advocate specific policies.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and International Relations
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, India, and Kashmir

913. A long hot summer

Author:
William Maley and Daoud Yaqub
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
On 21 March each year, the people of Afghanistan celebrate the Spring festival of Nawruz. Families gather to mark the onset of the new season, and to wish each other well for the coming year. Yet this year, Nawruz is overshadowed by a gathering sense of apprehension. All the available evidence suggests that the opponents of the Karzai government and of its Coalition supporters are positioning themselves for their fiercest attacks ever. As the snow melts and ground becomes passable again, hundreds of foreign fighters are poised to strike against both the instrumentalities and symbols of the state, and the large proportion of the Afghan population that remains committed to the transition inaugurated by the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. This is not, however, a threat just to the security of Afghanistan. In a very real sense, it reflects a recrudescence of the al-Qaeda network and its affiliates, and thus challenges those countries and peoples who have fallen victim to al-Qaeda's brand of globalised terrorism. Afghanistan is the front line in confronting these forces, and if the wider world allows the struggle for Afghanistan to be lost, it could pay a heavy price.
Topic:
NATO, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Asia

914. Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline: Is it a peace pipeline?

Author:
Abbas Maleki
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
A major natural gas pipeline that would stretch from the fields of southern Iran to Pakistan and India—itself a remarkable prospect—is being planned. But it faces serious hurdles, not least the fierce opposition of the U.S. government.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Energy Policy, Regional Cooperation, and Gas
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, India, and Asia

915. Values, Ethics and Teacher Education A Perspective from Pakistan

Author:
Rukhsana Zia
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Values and ethics are automatically incorporated into any teaching/learning environment or endeavour, whether or not they are consciously stated objectives. The focus on “quality of education” has sharpened as people have become concerned about a perceived rise in materialism as standards of living have improved; materialistic ambitions increasingly fill the ideological gap created by the move to a pluralistic society in which there is a less general consensus of values and ethics. There is increasing demand for insight into the potential of the formal teaching/learning process for inculcating, learning/unlearning (as the case may be) and consolidating values. The manner in which teachers are trained has far-reaching implications for the youth in schools, and a systemic inquiry into the structure, role, responsibilities, aims and curricular objectives of teacher education is the obvious starting point. This paper tries to delineate the global normative aims of education as a model for assessing the composition of the teacher education curriculum in Pakistan. It looks at the intended curriculum, bearing in mind that the formal and the active curricula may not necessarily converge. The paper accepts that ethics and values education is still in a formative stage. However, one critical question that will remain open at the philosophical level is “which values should be included?” and this needs to be vigorously researched to establish guidelines that have global consensus. The next crucial question will then be “how best to teach to ensure that these ethics and values are internalised by learners?”
Topic:
Education, Culture, Ethics, and Values
Political Geography:
Pakistan and Middle East

916. Pakistan and the Rule of Law: Judged and Found Wanting

Author:
Irene Khan
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
When former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal became the leader of her Pakistan People's Party, following her assassination, he told the crowds that 'My mother always said democracy is the best revenge'. Yet, despite the fact parliamentary elections are now scheduled for February 18, Amnesty International sensed a general mood of hopelessness during a recent visit to the country. 'Pakistan is lost' was a refrain heard in many places.
Political Geography:
Pakistan

917. Pakistan: Real and Imaginary Risks

Author:
Anatol Lieven
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Risk analysts are getting it wrong in Pakistan. Fears of an Islamic state, or loose nukes – the capture of the nation's arsenal by extremists – will only come about if the west makes policy mistakes. Instead, long-term issues like climate change and population growth are the real threats.
Political Geography:
Pakistan

918. Britain's Food Supply: Lunch as a Strategic Issue

Author:
Kate Bailey
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The days when the consumer could command ample supplies of ever-cheaper delicacies from around the world may be over for ever. Food prices are rising dramatically, and probably permanently, hitting the world's leading economies. In developing countries, there have been queues for wheat in Pakistan, a shortage of rice in Bangladesh and Afghanistan has appealed for international help with supplies. Mealtime is about to become an important international issue for everyone.
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Britain, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh

919. Buying Time in Afghanistan

Author:
Carl Robichaud
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Afghanistan is increasingly seen as Iraq in slow motion. It is not. The headlines of car bombs and casualty tolls echo each other, but mask deep differences in each society and in the dynamics of each insurgency. As Iraq has descended into civil war, Afghanistan's center has held. The government remains weak, but power holders and the public show no appetite for a return to internecine fighting. The insurgency remains solvent because of safe havens across the border in Pakistan, but has been unable to expand upon its toehold in Afghanistan or offer a compelling alternative to the status quo.
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq

920. Asia: Towards Security Cooperation

Author:
Michael Vatikiotis
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Asia has enjoyed a remarkable climate of peace and security in the post-Cold War era. However, there is much that could have gone wrong. Tensions on the Korean peninsula, in the Taiwan Straits, between China and India, India and Pakistan – the hot spots and fault lines of tension are well known and warily watched. Rarely has serious conflict erupted, though. The last major 'conventional' conflict in Asia was the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, though smaller wars have been fought between states in Kashmir and along the Chinese border with Vietnam. The region is also wracked by protracted internal disputes that generate sustained fears for internal security and destabilized inter-state relations. All the same, for a region that lacks the kind of sophisticated collective security arrangements that have kept the northern hemisphere at peace for the past sixty years, Asia's security environment is remarkably benign.
Topic:
Security, Development, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, India, Taiwan, Asia, Soviet Union, Vietnam, Kashmir, Korea, and Korean Peninsula