The “mad dog of the middle east”, named by US president Ronald Raegan, the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi went on to write The GREEN BOOK. According to the book, The capitalist world of today has only given parliamentarians, the right to analyze and comment on the optimum system of government and social hierarchy.
Always denouncing and censoring the comments made by communists and other newly founded political systems, on how a state should be run.
It seems that the status quo has made it impossible for the general public to even think of an alternative to the popular democratic systems; Presidential democracy and Parliamentary democracy. In this prevalent system of governance, it feels a sin to even think about any alternative system of governance.
Nonetheless, this status quo was challenged by Col. Muammar Gaddafi, the dictator of Africa’s oil-rich Libya. As the showman and unique individual he was, didn’t shy away from commenting on the optimum system of governance.
The GREEN BOOK
This little book, according to Gaddafi presented the ultimate solution to the political and economic problems of the whole world. In the book, he appears with the confidence of a philosopher who has studied anthropology for decades.
Part 1 of The GREEN BOOK (The Solution of the Problem of Democracy)
The book was published in three parts. In part 1 of The GREEN BOOK, Gaddafi derives logic to reject the popular system of democracy. He declares that the greatest dictatorships in today’s world are the parliaments.
“A parliament is originally founded to represent the people, but this in itself is undemocratic as democracy means the authority of the people and not an authority acting on their behalf”, he writes. He goes on to say that the mere existence of a parliament means the absence of people.
He goes on to justify his claim that the victory of a candidate having 51% votes is a dictatorship over the other 49% people, which destroys the basic element of democracy.
The basic sovereignty of the masses is usurped by the elected candidate, who remains out of the reach & influence of the masses who elected him. Furthermore, the parliamentarians are endowed with a special sacredness and immunity, denied to the masses.
The parties in a parliament are not representing the interests of the whole population, but rather a specific group of the population that shares common beliefs, and ideologies. Thus, the party in itself is a minority and thus is not legitimate to represent and rule the whole population.
Thus, he rejects multi-party and single-party parliaments. Furthermore, he also rejects the Communist approach of the rule of one class destroying all other classes. A working-class that destroys all other classes, will eventually give rise to further classes in itself with time.
In addition to this, he draws an analogy between multi parties’ parliament and a group of tribes fighting to gain supremacy. The foremost aim of any political party isn’t the development of the state, but rather taking power.
Thus, in this political struggle, the masses are the ones to suffer. They are given a false notion of their representation, which in fact is the representation of a minority, the political party.
Constitutions a Major Problem
The constitution also doesn’t escape from his diligent criticism. Colonel Gaddafi considers the constitutions to be a major problem in today’s world, declaring that there is no man-made law. The essence of man is the same everywhere, then how come there be different laws in different populations?
This paradox proves that manmade law is dysfunctional and doesn’t guarantee security and peace. The changing of the constitution with every different political party in government proves the hypocrisy of man-made law.
The ultimate goal of such a constitution is to subdue other people & achieve the interests of a particular political party. According to him, the only source of law is religion and tradition.
The laws derived from constitutions are full of physical penalties directed against human beings, while tradition & religion contains few such measures.
Tradition & Religion lay down moral and non-physical penalties that conform to the intrinsic nature of humanity. These often defer the physical penalties to a future judgment, thus affording due respect to humans.
As an alternative to the parliaments and parties, Gaddafi proposes the system of People’s General Congresses and People’s Working Committees. A system that is void of any political parties or political drama.
There are Basic General Congresses established in each district, the members of which are the local citizens, who then select a Basic Working Committee. This Basic committee is the administrative unit & replaces the traditional government in that particular district.
In addition to the Basic General Congress, there are professional associations, unions, and syndicates of professionals of each social group in a district; laborers, doctors, teachers, etc. These professional associations being the stakeholders, also take part in the decision-making process of the Basic General Congress.
The Basic General Congress and Basic Working Committees select their secretariats which formulate National General Congress and National Working Committees.
These two organizations then, meet annually or periodically to manage affairs of the country and draft the working principles & guidelines, which are then forwarded to Basic General Congresses and Basic People’s Working Committees. Thus, the people, themselves are in control of the affairs of their district and country, rather than their representatives. This system of governance is represented in the schematic diagram below.
The Solution to the Economic Problem
In the second part of The Green Book, he opens the discussion on economic issues of the world. He denounces both capitalisms as well as communism. In a capitalist system, the worker works for the boss, while in communism, the worker works for the state.
Thus, in both cases, the citizen isn’t working for himself under his own terms. Thus, the man is a slave in both systems according to Gaddafi. He declares that a man should only work for himself.
The nationalization of industries is also mentioned in this part. He regards the wage system to be the basic problem, replacing it with partnership in the manufacturing of products. In addition to this, the book describes it as completely unethical for any individual to use the need of someone else.
Thus, Gaddafi declares it unlawful for any person to acquire wealth/property more than his needs. “It’s against the ethics that a person builds a house, other than his to use for rent. For, in this case, he is exploiting a basic necessity of other people”, he writes.
The necessities of life; House, car, and clothes for oneself are thus solely his right and property, but anything other than his own is exploiting the needs of somebody else.
In addition to this, the book abolishes the servants, declaring it unlawful and unethical for one individual to use anyone else as a commodity.
Commenting on the press, Gaddafi says that a newspaper doesn’t represent the opinion of society, rather it’s a representative of a segment of society; mostly the owners of that particular newspaper. According to him, the newspaper can only be issued by the Basic People’s Working Committees, comprising all groups of society.
The Social Basis of the Third Universal Theory
THE GREEN BOOK also explores Nationalism, Tribalism, and Globalism. It also comments on women’s role, arts, sports, and the socioeconomic factors of society, which can’t be explained diligently within this article.
Nonetheless, Gaddafi’s solution to democracy is quite similar to the 18th-century French Philosopher Rousseau who also focuses on individual freedom & sovereignty.
It is also worthwhile to note, that Gaddafi implemented this system and maintained a stable rule over Libya for 40 years.
He drastically changed the social-economic-political paradigm of his people, modernizing the country to the extent of providing adequate housing, electricity, education, jobs, and gender equality to the masses.
Through his firm understanding of tribalism & social factor, he was able to keep together the different tribes leading them to great economic benefits, with Libya’s GDP even greater than U.S and Europe during the 80s.
Though some people attribute Libya’s growth & stability to Gaddafi’s strong use of force & country’s oil reserves. Nonetheless, it’s a huge feat accomplished by the Colonel to rule such a delicate federation of tribes & propel his people to immense socio-economic development.
Changes in the Earth’s weather patterns and global warming are both caused by contemporary climate change. Climate change is not a new phenomenon as it has been initiated with the inception of the world. But the contemporary changes are more speedy and caused by unnatural reasons.
Climate Change Consequences
Expanding deserts, heatwaves, and wildfires are the common outcomes of climate change. An increase in temperature in the Arctic has caused melting permafrost, glacial retreat, and sea ice loss.
Weather Change
The higher temperatures have been causing extreme weather conditions and changes. Like more intense droughts, severe storms, and other extreme conditions.
Environment Change
Environmental changes in forests, mountains, deserts, coral reefs, and the Arctic have caused many species to relocate or become extinct. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “ The Greatest Threat to Global Health in the 21st Century is Climate Change.”
Sun’s Role in Global Warming
Global warming can be described as the unusual increase in the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere. The Sun’s energy enters the atmosphere and heats the Earth with waves.
Light rays warm the Earth and then reflect back infrared waves back into space. In order to keep the Earth’s temperature stable. Infrared waves going back into space are naturally trapped by the Earth’s atmosphere.
Emission of Greenhouse Gases
The thin layer of earth that traps the waves, has been thickened by humans by the emission of various gases like carbon dioxide and methane. The burning of fossil fuels also emits greenhouse gases, which increase the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Effects of Greenhouse Gases
The rapid hike in the temperature of Earth’s core has alarmed the whole world to control the emissions of greenhouse gases. According to environmental scientists, the emission of gases can be controlled, but it will have severe long-lasting effects that will remain for centuries.
Increase in Earth’s Temperature
Earth’s temperature is increasing rapidly with the passage of time. According to the report by National Geographic on climate change, “The planet is warming, from the North Pole to the South Pole.” Since 1906, the global average surface temperature has increased by more than 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius), even more in sensitive polar regions.
Threat to the Ecosystem
Icebergs are melting in polar regions, which could increase the sea level by between 10 and 32 inches by the end of the century, which would ultimately lead to severe storms and floods. Global warming is also a threat to the ecosystems of the world as it would force different species to relocate.
Some species would be successful in adapting to the different atmospheres, but some, like polar bears, won’t be able to survive and could become extinct.
Global Warming in the European States
A rapid increase in temperature has been recorded in different regions of the world, especially in European states. Severe heat waves hit France, Spain, Italy, England, and Australia.
Increasing temperatures across Europe have caused hundreds of heat-related deaths and wildfires. Last month, France, in addition to Spain and Italy, was hit by the heat wave.
France
Two months ago, France experienced its hottest weather. Two large fires that were sparked in the Bordeaux region of France destroyed more than 24,000 acres of land and forced more than 14,000 people to evacuate.
Spain
Spain experienced a scorching heat wave, causing an overall death toll of 360 by heat stroke and forest fire in various regions of the country.
Portugal
In the past week, 659 people in Portugal died due to heat-related issues, including the death of one pilot of a firefighting plane that crashed during an emergency situation.
Great Britain
Britain got its first extreme heat warning by the Met Office this week when temperatures in different regions of the country soared as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit, which was a record temperature in the history of Britain.
Greece
Greece faced a violent wind storm and soaring temperatures that caused the wildfire to spread more quickly. According to the officials, 70 incidents of fire were noticed on a single day.
Italy
Last week, the northern region of Italy along the country’s longest river, The Po experienced a severe drought that affected the country’s agricultural output with a 30% decrease in production.
Important Strategies to Tackle Global Warming
There is no one exact approach to stop or slow global warming, but each and every individual, state, tribe, and family have to cooperate with each other to save the planet from overheating. Experts have devised some important strategies to mitigate the effects of global warming.
Renewable Sources of Energy
We should move on to renewable (wind and solar) sources of energy for daily usage. Governments should introduce electric vehicles or mass transit vehicles so that the usage of personal cars can be reduced.
Control the Emission of Greenhouse Gases
Practical measures should be taken to control the emission of carbon dioxide and methane from industrial plants. Steps should be taken to store carbon dioxide for a specific period to make it harmless to the ozone layer.
Aforestation
Aforestation can also mitigate the effect of carbon emissions and ultimately help in reducing the Earth’s temperature. The government should take these measures into consideration so that the temperature of the Earth becomes stable and feasible for living.
Employing renewable and nuclear energy can help Pakistan overcome its lingering energy crisis, address climate change and achieve the sustainable development goals.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
As the engine of development, energy or more accurately clean-energy plays a vital role in realizing the goal of sustainable development. From this perspective, Pakistan’s dependence on other countries to meet its energy needs is neither sustainable nor preferable. Its import-driven energy policy inevitably hinders efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Uses of Fossil Fuels
Currently, the country imports almost a third of its energy requirements in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), oil, and coal. This reliance on fossil fuels and that too imported from foreign countries is a double-edged sword for Pakistan.
The use of fossil fuels adversely affects the ecosystem through the deposition of acid chemicals. The consequent soil degradation and water acidification in turn affect biodiversity and natural resources.
Negative Consequences
Another negative consequence of this flawed ‘import-driven and fossil-based energy generation policy’ is that it takes a huge toll on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, compromises its sovereignty, and renders it extremely vulnerable to price fluctuations in the global energy market.
Thus, to achieve long-term energy security and SDGs, Pakistan must expedite efforts to develop self-sufficiency by harnessing indigenous capacities, renewable energy sources, and last but not least nuclear energy. The reasons for this lay in the fact that on a life cycle basis, fossil technologies have the greatest acidification potential compared to nuclear power technologies.
Uses of Nuclear Technology
It is worth noting that in technologically and industrially developed societies, the use of nuclear technology for energy generation is a well-established fact and contributes roughly around 20 percent to their energy mix. While the share of nuclear energy in electricity generation in developing countries is less than 5 percent.
Increasingly many countries across the world are recognizing the need for nuclear energy for sustainable development and clean energy.
In addition to the growing energy requirements, this need for nuclear energy is driven by climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals agenda for 2030 agreed to by states in 2015.
In fact, out of the 17 SDGs, SDG 7 is concerned with reliable, affordable, modern, and clean energy. Most significantly, there is a positive correlation between energy consumption and human development.
Thus, by ensuring energy security, Pakistan can fundamentally improve the health, educational standards, and general wellbeing of its population.
Supply and Demand Gap
However, the electricity supply and demand gap seriously compromises Pakistan’s development efforts. Despite surplus capacity, the country is suffering from a shortfall of an estimated 6000 GW, probably because of the poor governance.
The shortfall of energy has resulted in huge economic and social losses. For instance, due to the power shortage Pakistan incurred a loss of US$ 18 billion (6.5% of GDP) only in the fiscal year 2015.
It is indeed reassuring that Pakistan’s civil and military leadership seems to have grown cognizant of the imperative of clean energy. Speaking at the Climate Ambition Summit 2020 which marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris agreement on climate change.
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed hope that Pakistan will generate 60 percent clean energy through renewable sources by 2030.
Pakistan’s National Electricity Policy
One can justifiably wonder and ask what prevents Pakistan from aiming at 100 percent clean energy. Pakistan’s National Electricity Policy 2020 reflects the country’s desire to harness indigenous resources of renewable and nuclear energy to address the impacts of climate change.
Undoubtedly, renewable sources of energy have a great promise in addressing climate change. Nuclear, hydro and wind power are among the lowest greenhouse gas emitters.
As one of the fifth most vulnerable countries to climate change that also suffers from a crippling energy crisis, Pakistan direly needs to turn to renewable sources of energy including wind, solar, hydro and biomass.
Climate Friendly Low-Carbon Electricity
Given current trends, more and more countries will draw on renewable sources of energy while at the same time depending on nuclear power for the steady supply of baseload electricity.
As one of the main sources of low-carbon electricity, nuclear energy will help mitigate the effects of climate change besides providing low-carbon electricity to its growing urban population.
Nuclear energy is widely regarded as a clean, reliable, and affordable source of electricity that can also help address global energy and climate challenges. Studies conducted to assess the impact of nuclear energy on the environment found nuclear energy to be comparatively eco-friendly.
Although there are still concerns regarding safety and radioactive waste management, concerned authorities in the field of nuclear technology are optimistic that “remarkable” research will help develop a new generation of nuclear reactors, which will be equipped with inherent safety features, will be more efficient, and will generate less waste.
They also cite examples of the successful management of waste disposal by the global nuclear industry.
Pakistan and Clean Energy
Pakistan needs to garner international support for its clean energy drive. It goes without saying that while Pakistan should make every effort in its capacity to address safety concerns when pursuing an expansion of nuclear energy, the international community too has a responsibility to fulfill.
In this regard, the discriminatory attitude of the Nuclear Suppliers Group is a prime example at hand. Instead of adopting a criteria-based approach, the nuclear cartel is unjustifiably favoring India while denying access to the nuclear technology for peaceful uses to Pakistan.
Needless to say that such discriminatory policies by the US and its western partners render the nuclear cartel a strategic tool in the hands of vested interests rather than a credible nuclear watchdog.
Conclusion
In the nutshell, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is contingent upon adequate energy generation through renewable and other low-carbon energy sources like nuclear.
To this end, Pakistan must adopt and implement eco-friendly policies and expedite efforts to gain access to modern nuclear technology.
It can enhance nuclear cooperation with friendly countries like China. Equally important, Pakistan must develop indigenous resources and capacities. Indeed, as an active player in the global nuclear order, Pakistan has the potential to realize the goal of low-carbon nuclear energy.
Asian University for Women liberal arts program is one-of-a-kind. It is inspired by the most successful liberal arts institutions with a diverse pool of students from South Asia and Middle East.
Abstract:
This study primarily aims at highlighting the issues and challenges confronted by liberal arts students from Pakistan after graduating from Asian University for Women (AUW) Chittagong, Bangladesh.
By employing the method of content analysis for analyzing the data obtained through structured interviews, this study underscores the role of liberal arts education in shaping the personalities and perspectives of the 15 liberal arts graduates who were part of this study.
It then goes on to explore the nature of challenges stemming from illiberal socio-political structures confronting the students and the strategies they employ to overcome societal barriers in their quest for positive social change in line with the ideals and values of liberal arts in society.
Introduction:
Liberal arts education has been variably defined and described by various scholars, researchers, and institutions. However, all the definitions converge on one point that liberal arts is a form of knowledge and education that offers an expansive intellectual development in all forms and facets of humanistic inquiry.
This definition provided by Princeton University underlines some of the defining features of a liberal arts education by allowing for a deeper intellectual engagement and debate on issues and ideas. It cultivates the critical and analytical skills of students thus enabling them to express their ideas logically, cogently, and coherently.
Thus, liberal arts education focuses on critical thinking, analyzing, and allowing students to think more deeply and creatively.
It is crucial to define some of the important terminologies in this study for the sake of clarity. Thus, generally and in the context of this research, a liberal society is referred to as a society where every individual has equal rights irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, etc.
Consequently, a society where people enjoy equal opportunities with necessary legal and constitutional protections in place to ensure their fundamental human rights would be considered a liberal society. Whereas, an illiberal society can be described as all such systems, structures, institutions, laws, and values that are antithetical to women’s empowerment.
Thus, a society where there exists is a lack of democratic and fundamental human rights, and discrimination on the basis of gender, class, race, ethnicity, etc is called an illiberal society.
In this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to explore the kinds of challenges faced by liberal arts students from Pakistan after graduating from the Asian University for Women, Bangladesh. Considering the socio-political makeup of Pakistan as a state and society characterized by religious conservatism, a lack of democratic protections for marginalized and vulnerable communities and groups like women, minorities, human rights activists, etc.
It is tempting to study the personal experiences of liberal arts graduates who often find themselves struggling in such hostile contexts. Indeed, suppression of dissent and free will is the hallmark of all illiberal states and societies and Pakistan is no exception to this. Gender-based violence is ubiquitous in Pakistan and the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 ranked the country among the bottom 10 countries.
Research Question (s):
What are some of the most pressing and common challenges that AUW graduates from Pakistan find themselves grappling with after returning home?
How do they seek to overcome those challenges in a bid to make a difference in line with their liberal credentials in an illiberal socio-political context?
Questionnaire:
Do you think your perspective changed as a result of the education you received at Asian University for Women? How?
What type of challenges did you face after returning to Pakistan?
How do you overcome such challenges and seek to bring about social change?
What Strategies do you use to counter opposing views
Data Analysis /Findings:
Role of Liberal Arts Education in Shaping Students’ Perspectives
All of the graduates interviewed were of the view that their perspectives have changed significantly as a result of liberal arts education at AUW. In particular, they emphasized the liberalizing impact of liberal arts education and the conducive learning environment at Asian University for Women in reshaping their personalities and attitudes by enabling them to unlearn and relearn so as to become socio-politically conscious individuals.
Courses that students studied at Asian University for Women played a vital role in changing their personalities.
AUW offers a variety of courses that aim at the holistic development of students. These courses are inherently structured and designed in a way that fosters critical and creative skills. Also, students are introduced to the studies of politics, philosophy, and economics. This helps students unlearn their old biases and indoctrinations and develop independent views by using their critical and analytical reasoning skills.
One of the graduates expressed her experience of studying at Asian University for Women in the following words
“As for my experience of studying at Asian University for Women, the sheer variety of perspectives and views on a multitude of subjects and issues taught and discussed amazed me. So I learned about all that during the course of my studies. Most importantly, I learned about the various kinds of feminism and feminist thought.
The education at Asian University for Women helped broaden my intellectual horizon thus enabling me to look beyond my indoctrinated belief system. Also, it provided the necessary wherewithal of ideas and concepts to re-evaluate my beliefs about my religion, and my culture thereby bringing in more clarity and a better understanding of things.
In particular, the course on Gender and Law helped me a lot in terms of developing and sharing views about women’s rights issues and analyzing policy making and implementation issues.”
Similarly, another respondent shared how the AUW education system changed her views about patriarchy
“We had a wide range of courses with many different professors with different backgrounds. They did a lot of good things to change my perspective, which I was earlier not aware of and it taught me some values that I can talk about. The most significant thing that I would call that changed over time was my perspective regarding patriarchy.
I was okay before coming to AUW. And was okay with patriarchy. Surely, I never saw it as a hurdle carry along. But of course, the way they were installed at AUW totally changed my perspective. I would say the AUW education system, culture, and class environment made a significant change in my life, and in my perspective.”
In addition to this one of the respondents stated that “the courses taught at AUW really changed my life. It was a transformative phase of my life. My perspective of life changed for the positive. I used to be resistant toward a lot of things, be it religious ideas, political or cultural”.
Moreover, another participant expressed that “Yes, I think my perspective has changed a lot due to the courses I took at AUW. I was kind of a misogynist when I was living in Pakistan but going to AUW, literally changed me into a feminist and it changed my perspective on how I seek the world before”.
Another respondent highlighted the fact that faculties from different international universities and organizations visiting AUW were indeed crucial in providing deeper insight and understanding of the purpose and objectives of the courses offered. Also, the mandatory karate class at AUW was an empowering experience for her in many ways.
The curriculum has leadership classes, and visiting professors from the UN and from other universities really helped me in understanding more. The gym, being forced to take karate class/ defense fighting class. That taught me that no matter how economically empowered you are, you also need to be empowered physically because no one cares about your degree unless you punch them in the face if they do not behave themselves. So that really empowered me.
Another participant underscored how liberal arts education at Asian University for Women helped them overcome her narrow outlook toward life and society at large in the following words.
“My perspective about society changed because of the courses I studied at AUW. In the first semester at AUW, I was taught world history and human history, which I believe played a vital role in enhancing my awareness.
I was awakened for the first time to the inherent oneness of humanity when my personal prejudices fell apart after receiving a liberal arts education. Also, as a student of political science and moral philosophy, I learned and internalized the idea of peaceful coexistence in this world. May it be with human beings or other species.”
The diversified and democratic environment at AUW contributed to changing the way students think and behave
The unique environment at AUW was found to have a huge role in shaping the way students see and think about themselves and the world at large. Since it inculcated the values of diversity, human dignity, and pluralism, tolerance, and respect for the ‘others’ was a natural outcome of liberal arts education in those.
In this way, it played a pivotal role in broadening the intellectual horizon of students. In the case of many respondents, the education at AUW was like getting baptized and cleansed of all their biases. It provided an opportunity to have an open discussion and logical exchange of ideas with followers of various religions and cultures thus fostering mutual understanding, tolerance, and interfaith harmony.
One of the respondents said, “I used to have the belief that my perspective was the ‘right one’ but the environment at AUW taught me to respectfully consider alternative and often opposing views. Thus, it taught me the value of appreciating different perspectives and learning from them. It changed a lot of my prejudices about different religions, cultures, and people’s behaviors.
I am more accepting and pluralistic as compared to the rigid woman I was before AUW”. In the same vein, another participant expressed that “I was just very limited to the culture and political situation of just Pakistan, but then after going to AUW I think I became more of a global citizen. Like I look into other different issues and different cultures”.
Another participant highlighted an important feature of a liberal arts educational set up i.e., the availability of a more liberal faculty at AUW. She thought a friendly, cooperative, and liberal faculty was crucial for her to be able to study and openly share her views without inviting criticism or ridicule on some of the culturally and socially ‘sensitive’ and hushed-up aspects of society.
AUW changed my perspectives to a great extent. This is because the diversified environment of AUW opened up new possibilities and visions for the personal growth and development of society. This seemed very unlikely in a non-liberal educational system.
As one participant said that
Studying liberal arts with students from more than 20 countries across Asia, especially from the war zone areas like Palestine, Afghanistan, and Rohingya played a huge role in understanding different perspectives regarding Political Economy, the role of INGOs, and the UN. When I went to AUW, I had to live with Buddhist and Hindu students which opened my mind to new realities and perspectives and helped me leave the comfort zone of my bigoted views.
Being a student of AUW entailed many benefits like greater exposure to different religions, cultures, political ideologies, and philosophies. In order to make peace, you have to be open-minded. I think it really opened my mind and now I am more receptive to different cultures and religions.
The impact of a liberal arts education or for that matter the Asian University for Women in shaping perspectives and personalities is acknowledged in clear terms by the graduates interviewed. One dominant theme that emerges from their responses is that liberal arts education helps produce socio-politically enlightened students. One respondent states “Liberal arts education empowered and enlightened me enough to question things which I previously did not dare to question.
Previously I had no skills and confidence to question some regressive cultural norms and values that I always felt were discriminatory. After studying liberal arts education at Asian University for Women, I began to question and call out the deeply entrenched discriminatory attitudes towards women in my predominantly patriarchal society.”
Another graduate in response to a question regarding the impact of liberal arts education at AUW said that:
I come from an underdeveloped and far-off region of South Asia where my community struggles with various forms of violence and deprivations including political victimization, religious oppression, and abject poverty. At AUW, I lived as an individual unburdened by the rigid identities I had developed.
The freedom at AUW allowed me to look beyond the cultural and religious biases and binaries that had wrapped my vision and helped me become whole again. Thus, being tolerant and compassionate towards people from other cultures and religions seemed natural as a result of the hope and promise of a bright future for humanity envisioned and embedded in the liberal arts education that I received at AUW.
The Challenges Faced by Asian University for Women Graduates in Pakistan
All of the participants who took part in this research had faced various challenges ever since they returned to Pakistan after completing their studies at AUW. One of the common challenges that they faced was sexist remarks. In this regard, one participant mentioned that
I think the first one would be not being able to understand people, I think, people do make such remarks that are sexist. They would make remarks about the bodies of different people, they wouldn’t really talk about ideas. But also, like being aware of feminism, sexist remarks, body shaming, and all those things. When I see people making those remarks it really upsets me.
Before going to AUW students were fine with the social structure but when they got an education at AUW then they found their culture monotonous. It was hard for them to get adjusted.
Before I was okay with the laws and the norms of the society, but after learning about my rights, after learning about different perspectives, and after getting exposed to all these ideas about my rights and what I as a human deserve, I cannot stand inequality. I cannot stand the way women are treated in my society and I cannot stand the norms and cultures which are subordinating women. But now, I feel angry about it. And this is the challenge that I feel after coming to Pakistan now I cannot accept whatever I see, and I have to speak up and I have to take action.
In Pakistani culture, women are supposed to be well-mannered. By well-mannered, it means a person who cannot challenge the existing norms and values of a society. One respondent mentioned that
The first thing I noticed was people’s strange glare at our strong and vocal personalities. Overall, this culture of telling us to conform to some of the social norms was a challenging one because most of the time the norms are sexist and discriminatory in nature. We can’t be truly ourselves; we have to be careful about what we say and where we say our opinions.
Similarly,
When I came out of AUW and entered practical life. I faced challenges in adjusting myself to the work environment. I would very bluntly say like no, I would speak up about things and I would put up my opinion about anything and I would disagree and I would debate and challenge. So that wasn’t really acceptable, and I faced some serious kinds of issues. I faced were people telling me, like, I cannot challenge certain beliefs and notions that exist in society
People’s racist attitude towards Bangladesh
People in Pakistan still have stereotypes about Bangladesh. Many graduates face challenges studying in Bangladesh, people would denounce and ask the reasons for studying there. One of the respondents said that “But when you come out of that people don’t give a damn especially when you say I study from Bangladesh.
You are sometimes not treated well. People have certain stereotypes regarding Bangladesh. So they don’t take you seriously. The mindset of people is still the same as the way they were before”.
Another participant mentioned that “Most of the time, people would ask questions, Like, why are you studying in Bangladesh? Instead, you would have gone to another developed country. Don’t you have universities in Pakistan? And even now people have that mentality”
The Strategies Used to Overcome Opposition in the Quest for Social Change
In their quest to create a positive difference in their illiberal societies in line with the aims and objectives of the liberal arts, students were faced with various challenges and in some instances received explicit threats to life from conservative and extremist elements in society. Their bold and outspoken style or demeanor did not go down well with the so-called guardians of religion and culture.
They were shamed, belittled, ridiculed, threatened, harassed, body-shamed, and in some instances declared agents of the ‘enemy’ for questioning flawed state policies, regressive social structures, and anti-women legislation. Indeed, they faced all these challenges because a large section of the society cannot stand a bold, educated, and independent woman having the necessary understanding to question the ways and methods of the patriarchal and illiberal socio-political setup of Pakistan.
Given below are the comments and responses of the participants
I try to understand their context and their perspective as well. I try to see why they follow these norms. Why are they comfortable doing that, why don’t they question it? I try to connect the dots and I try to understand the perspectives of those who don’t think like me.
The first thing I do to overcome such challenges is to make peace with the fact that it takes time to bring change in a society where something has been practiced for years. To seek to change the first step is to create awareness. To create awareness in a way we need to start with people who are around us then with our friends then with the community.
Some respondents were of the view that social change takes time and one should not expect deeply entrenched structures to be overhauled in a matter of days. They said it takes time to bring about social change and that through greater awareness, education, and civic engagement we can hope to realize our dreams for a peaceful and better life and the world for all disregard of gender, class, ethnicity, etc.
Another participant expresses her sentiments in the following words
Most of the time I am exhausted and there are times I feel hopeless too. It’s not just outside, most of the time we have to deal with family members too against patriarchal issues, against sexist comments and norms. I am not sure if we overcome such issues or deal with them on a daily basis even though we feel exhausted at the end of the debate.
I mean, some days, I keep on debating with people until I feel like I have told them enough of what should be done and sometimes I let it go because I know whatever I say, they are not going to change their opinions. Some days, I prefer to be myself with all the challenges, and some days.
I have understood one thing: we can’t change someone with one discussion, it’s a long process. It’s through education we can bring social change. We are in the process and it will take time but it’s worth it.
In order to achieve the objectives of social change, the Asian University for Women graduates from Pakistan are on the forefront of various protest marches championing the cause of women’s equality, social justice, and freedom of expression and thought in society.
One such important event was the “Aurat March” or “Women March” held across Pakistan by women of all socio-political strands. However, another group of women was launched by the vested groups to discredit the Aurat March and its stated goals and objectives.
By participating in such activities they create awareness about women’s rights among people. They also use various social media platforms to highlight the issues confronted by women in society. They invite people to join such events and spread awareness among youth and other members of society.
One entrant mentioned that “I was a volunteer in the Aurat March and my aim was to spread awareness among youth. And other members of society about the rights of women”.
Likewise, another respondent said “I invited many of my friends from different universities to participate in that event. And to engage them in group activities and discussions. My main aim was to create a safe environment for youngsters. By highlighting and sharing ideas about the problems faced by women in Pakistan.
I did this because I felt that if they will discuss the problems then they will find the solutions by themselves”
Students mentioned that they fought against the work culture which was male dominant and tried to make people understand gender discrimination and women’s rights. They showed them that a woman can do whatever a man can. One interviewee mentioned that
I work with the production and supply chain, which is male dominant work culture there. I was the first girl to join an international company in Pakistan. My first objective was to have more girls in the organization. I fought against the work culture. I brought change and after four years we have 6 women in the organization.
Now things are changing and it helps my male colleagues to understand that there are no gender-defined roles. I am successfully doing a job that man was doing. A girl can do the same job as men if give them an equal opportunity
Strategies that Students Used to Counter Opposing Views:
All the participants implemented various strategies at various levels. Some think it indispensable to question the masculinist interpretation of religious scriptures or for that matter any other phenomena. Thus, they sought to bring some sense of balance to life by providing a feminist interpretation that takes into account women as well.
One participant highlighted one of the pervasive issues afflicting Pakistani society in particular and the Muslim world in general i.e., the misinterpretation or self-serving interpretation of the Holy scriptures for parochial interests
The holy Quran is often misinterpreted for vested interests including terrorist groups, extremist religious groups, or political parties in Pakistan that are unfriendly and discriminatory towards women. Their primary motive is to keep women politically suppressed and subordinate. So it is an important issue to talk about with people who always bring in the holy Quran and Islam to defend their own bigoted views on the status of and role of women in society, especially so when they run out of logical arguments.
In fact, as per Quran and Islam, discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, color, etc is prohibited but it is primarily the misinterpretation by clergy class and male members of the society that deprives women of their right due place and status in society. Yeah, so that’s how I tell them I question their interpretation because that’s where people usually interpret ground for themselves in such a way that it benefits them.
In this regard, students mentioned that they also participated in various awareness sessions and group discussions to spread awareness about the issues faced by women by giving day-to-day examples. One participant mentioned that “many men were not ready to participate in the Aurat march (Woman march) and were reluctant and fearful of allowing their sisters, daughters, and wives to go out in the streets to raise their voices for women’s rights.
Many men tried to downplay the Aurat march by dubbing it non-representative and a club of urban, elite-class educated women. I spread awareness about women’s rights and made people understand the fundamental human rights through advocacy campaigns on various formal and informal media platforms”
Conclusion:
Summing up, liberal arts education plays a significant role in shaping the identities and political perspectives of liberal arts students. Indeed, the core of it is to produce socio-politically conscious. And enlightened citizens who could contribute to the development of society. Using the skills and values learned through liberal arts to question injustice in society.
While this may be the case, different societies pose different challenges to liberal arts students or human rights activists due to their unique historical and socio-political makeup. In the case of this study, the socio-political context was extremely unfavorable for liberal arts students in fully realizing their true potential.
This study suggests that in such contexts, non-confrontational strategies rooted in greater compassion and understanding of the social malaise can prove effective, whereas confrontational tactics for short term gains can prove counterproductive
About Author:
The writer is a graduate of Asian University for Women Chittagong Bangladesh with major in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and a minor in Development Studies. Her area of interests include Women Rights, Ecofeminism, Climate Change, and Development related issues.
Do the women in their homes, in the cities, in the rural areas, in the backward areas; in Pakistan. Suffering domestic abuse have any clue about the women day on 8th march?. Do they really know what Aurat march is. Or there is something actually called Aurat march for the rights of women. Does the people who come out on the roads represent these women. Deprived of their rights, victims of sick mentality of men, victim of domestic abuse?. Do the futile slogans ‘ mera jism meri marzi’ help these women raise voice for themselves. At least in their homes or demand their rights or get rid of the suffering. Or to protect themselves from being beaten. Or come out of their homes knowing they are safe. Does Aurat march protected or saved girls and women from being raped, harassed and abused?. Does Aurat march played any role in ensuring the safety of women?. Is Aurat March helping?. Will Aurat March help?
Woman March
On 8th of March, people come out on the roads in the cities like Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and some others holding placards’ and raise their voice for the rights of women. For the fact that women need revolution I believe, some people give speeches representing the women of Pakistan I believe, media coverage, and then go home. Whole day was about women, dedicated to women, Women day. Next day, on March 9, back to routine life; normal day. People who came out on the roads for Aurat March representing women. They forgot about the rights of women the rest of the whole year. The next year again on 8th of march they will raise voice for women.
What about the rest of year, what good is the one day for women. What about the women who are being domestically abused by their husbands even on 8th of march and the rest of year. And is unable to do anything about it because she has no support, she has no idea how to survive this suffering, she has no idea what her right is under the constitution of Pakistan because there is no such bill for women so they can protect themselves from the sick mentality of their husbands or even there is a bill she is unaware or even if she is aware she knows that it lacks practical implementation and yet she knows that at the end she will be the one suffering.
What Could Get Women Their Legal Rights
If there would be some bill, if she knows that she has some legal rights. if she knows that she can held her husband accountable for this crime. if she knows that this is called domestic abuse which is a crime. if she knows that she can report domestic crime. if she knows that her voice will actually be heard. she would not have this much bruises on her body, she would not be in pain, she would have protected herself. But unfortunately she can’t do anything because she is unaware. Because the people don’t come out in their streets for them. Because there is no such system, because there is no practical implementation of the law and the existing bills.
She only knows that she is a woman living in Pakistan. And we don’t raise voice for these women on Aurat march, and if we do, we forget about them the rest of year, why are we not demanding from the government to pass the bill for the protection of women in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Why are we not continuing our march until and unless we ensure that the bill is being practically implemented and these thousands of women who are victims, their voice will be heard, they will not continue suffering, they will be saved?
These women are present in almost every family, in every street of every city and villages and this Aurat march is not helping them, these slogans and placards are not helping. I myself can’t help the woman I am seeing the victim of domestic abuse despite Aurat march every year how am I supposed to help her by coming out on the road and back home at the end of the day without any change. Women need revolution not march.
What Good is Aurat March
One Aurat march every year will not bring any change. Noor Mukhadam is one case in front of us, an example which has given women of Pakistan a hope. This was a change; this was a hope that after this, women will come stronger. If every year, we observe more of these women who are victims getting justice, we will see the numbers declining from thousands to hundreds and one day we might achieve victory; Victory of Women. But again Women need revolution not march. Revolution will bring change, Aurat march will only help those people who can get media coverage, help this elite faction achieve their purpose. They have changed the meaning of Aurat March. Which was supposed to be for women demanding the rights of women, which needs to be highlighted first.
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers that distribute content from an origin server throughout the world. It caches the content close to where each end-user is accessing the Internet via a web-enabled device. Furthermore, there are many free CDNs available that provide fast delivery of internet content. Cloud Flare, Incapsula, and Amazon Cloud Font are some of the CDN examples.
Why is a CDN needed?
A content delivery network is needed to deliver online content to users quickly and at scale. CDN has indeed provided users with a fast, reliable, and consistent experience. It balances the overall traffic to give the users the best web experience possible.
A Content Delivery Network is placed as a server at the exchange points between different networks. Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are the primary locations where different Internet providers connect to access the traffic originating on their different networks. With the connection of these IXPs, the CDN provider can reduce cost and transit times especially for high-speed data delivery.
CDN makes many optimizations on standard client/server data transfers. It places Data Centres at strategic locations across the globe which enhances security and survives various types of failure and Internet congestion.
Cloudflare CDN
A CDN Cloudflare offers ultra-fast content delivery over the global network. It exercises precise control over how your content is cached and reduces the bandwidth. Following this, It balances the network traffic by using proximity and network latency to determine the most efficient destination for each request.
How does Cloudflare CDN work?
CDN Cloudflare routes website traffic through Cloudflare’s global network of data centers. Cloudflare optimizes web content delivery by storing duplicates of static content on its server. Your website content is served from the Cloudflare sever which decreases the page load time in particular. If the Cloudflare network is busy then the traffic is automatically get route to the next server.
Benefits of Cloudflare CDN
The CDN Cloudflare improves the cache hit ratio with advanced routing and URL canonicalization. It also protects websites from Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS). It also blocks threats and limits abusive bots before they reach your server.
Types of Content Delivery Network
Different types of CDNs are:
Peer to Peer CDN
Push CDN
Original Pull CDN
Peer to Peer CDN
This type of CDN network utilizes a peer-to-peer protocol. Peer to Peer CDN requires no caching. Here, users are also part of the CDN. Users can share the content with others that they access. They can also download the content without affecting the browsing experience. It has less hardware and resource utilization. That’s why many CDN providers offer their peer-to-peer services free of charge.
Push CDN
In Push CDN, contents are physically push in to the CDN servers. Files are physically hosted at the server. The main server takes the files and pushes them into the CDN server. For relatively static sites with huge files to download, Push CDN is undoubtedly the best choice.
Original Pull CDN
In Original Pull, the CDN contents get stores in the respective web servers only. There is no physical uploading of the content to the CDN servers. CDN pulls content from the main server and caches it. Content is delivered from the cached copies of the nearest CDN server. It is also called as Relayed CDN. WordPress blogs mostly uses the Original Pull CDN.
Original Pull CDN has further two categories:
1. Full Site Content Delivery CDN
2. Partial Site Delivery CDN
In Full Site Content Delivery, the entire webpage is delivered from the CDN while in Partial Site Content Delivery only part of a web page is delivered through CDN.
Azure CDN
Azure CDN offers developers a global solution for delivering high bandwidth content by caching the content at strategically placed physical nodes. It offers the following benefits and features to the users:
This type of CDN serves the content directly so that the original server gets the less load.
Provides better performance for applications which require multiple round-trips to load content.
It also handles the instantaneous high load better, such as the start of the product launch event.
Google CDN is a low latency content delivery solution for small enterprise businesses. It uses the latest HTTP protocol for better performance. Anycast (single IP) worldwide serves all the contents.
Benefits of Content Delivery Network
Almost all the technology applications today rely on CDN to serve content to their users. It offers the following benefits:
Websites that use CDN have seen a 50% reduction in the load time, thereby significantly improving the performance.
It optimizes server infrastructure to respond to user requests more quickly.
A Content Delivery Network balances a load of network traffic. It also ensures that no server gets overload.
It enables a web application to provide uninterrupted service to the users when the server goes down.
If a server goes down it can still provide content from other servers in the network.
It also protects a website against DoS (Denial of Service) and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks.
Using AWS CDN reduces the number of networks that your users’ requests must pass through, which improves performance.
With CDN content providers can deliver a fast, quality web experience to the users irrespective of the location or network they are connecting from.
Pakistan relationship with Russia has been one of those lost opportunities to which Pakistan could not cater due to its policy of alignment in the early years post-independence.
However, with the changing dynamics of the international system and politics, the re-shift towards Multipolarity, the failure of NATO forces in Afghanistan, the escalating importance of Central Asia, the rise of China in the global arena, the switch of states from security and military politics to geopolitics, and many other reasons, collectively amounted to the transformation of historic foes into the friends of today.
Pakistan and Russia, realizing each other’s geographic, political, economic, commercial, industrial, and geo-strategic importance, have initiated talks of cooperation towards one another, which is clearly visible in the fields of economy and military.
Objectives and Limitations
The prime objective of this study is to analyze the growing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Russia in terms of military cooperation and economic progress and calculate their impact on India’s foreign policies.
For this purpose, the paper pinpoints the bilateral and multilateral agreements, initiatives, pacts, treaties, projects, and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) undertaken by both parties from 2013 to 2021, in both the fields of security and economy.
The paper doesn’t talk about how Pakistan and Russia work together in areas other than those listed above. It also doesn’t talk about relations between the two countries before 2013. While conducting the research, no strict limitations were posed other than the thorough research needed to address our questions as the topic is being researched contemporarily.
Significance
The study is significant in many respects. Academically, it will present a comprehensive image of the near-historic and emerging mutual and reciprocal relations between the two important regional states which can further be used as a basis for extended research. Practically, it will be of paramount importance.
Firstly, the reader can clearly understand and analyse the extent of the alliance growing between Pakistan and Russia in economic and military sectors.
Secondly, it will portray a clear picture of the possible outcomes of the growing Pak-Russia alliance for Indian politics. Thirdly, it will also make some recommendations to improve the current status of cooperation between the two countries in other sectors as well.
Historical Background of Pakistan and Russia
During the Cold War, the relations between Pakistan and Russia, which belonged to opposite camps within the bipolar structure, were largely hostile (Amin,2016).
In light of Pakistan’s emergence on the world map, it joined the capitalist Western bloc and became a signatory of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) and the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) in the light of its increasing security concerns vis-à-vis India.
The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace
To avenge Pakistan’s decision to form an alliance with the Soviet Union’s ideological rival, it sought a de facto alliance with Pakistan’s aggressive neighbor, India, and concluded the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation in 1971. With Russian military, diplomatic, strategic, and economic support, India successfully defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war and cut Pakistan in two (Moskalenko, 2014).
Russia and Pakistan in Afghan War
Moreover, Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghan War in 1979, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, further deteriorated the bilateral relations (Amin, 2016). In addition, Pakistan’s close relationship with China since the 1960s made it difficult for Islamabad to achieve rapprochement with Moscow, given the Sino-Soviet split in the Cold War (Moskalenko, 2014).
Alliance with the Taliban
However, no change in the Pak-Russian relationship was evident even after the end of the cold war. In the 1990’s civil war in Afghanistan, Pakistan allied with the Taliban regime, whereas the Russians supported the Northern Alliance. So, the two states were up against one another on a proxy battlefield as well.
President Pervez Musharraf
President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan visited Russia in 2003, making him the first head of Pakistan since 1972 to do so. His stance on the Chechnyan issue as a “domestic concern” and negation of the accusation that Pakistan provided no support to rebel groups in Central Asia led to the reciprocation of a state level visit by the Russian Prime Minister to Pakistan in 2007 (Amin, 2016).
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization
In 2011, Russia expressed support for Pakistan’s full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the visit to Russia by President Zardari of Pakistan was realized (Moskalenko, 2014). However, it was during 2014 that the ice melted between the two states and they developed formal and cooperative bilateral relations between them, which will be further discussed in the paper.
Theoretical Framework
The shift of Russia from India to Pakistan can be accounted for through geopolitics and understood through the lens of geopolitics. In global politics, enemies and allies are now decided by how a country’s location, access to seas and ports, land connections with other countries, geographical features, topography, etc. affect the international political system and relations between countries.
Rudolf Kjellén
Coined by the Swedish political scientist, Rudolf Kjellén, at the onset of the 20th century, the term “geopolitics” is today as relevant as it was in history. World politics is still underpinned by geography that conditions the ease or difficulty of projecting power, even given technological innovations such as the Internet and aviation.
EurAsian
Globalization and technological changes modulate the significance of geography, but they do not negate it. According to Christopher Gogwilt, geopolitics today is used as “a synonym for international political relations”. The increased geostrategic location of Pakistan due to CPEC could translate into Russia’s interest in forming an “EurAsian” union and reviving its superpower status (Dugin, 1990s).
Arabian Sea
Pakistan’s access to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea, a gateway to Central and West Asia, and sharing borders with vulnerable Afghanistan, which provides Pakistan with a superior position over its affairs; all these geographic elements cumulatively reshape and revisit Russia’s policy towards Pakistan.
US-India-Israel Nexus
Another driving factor in Russian foreign policy towards Pakistan has been to “balance the threat” emerging from the growing India-US alliance. The theory suggests that states define their goals by the power of others. In order to counter the threat that might emerge from the US-India-Israel nexus, Russia is neutralizing the threat through the growing Russia-China-Pakistan bloc in order to prevent the United States’ monopoly and to preserve its interests in the region.
A Security Dilemma
As for Pakistan, the “security dilemma” created by the US-India-Israel bloc is the defining element of its foreign policy. According to Gilpin (1984), Morgenthau (1985), and Schmidt (2002), an anarchic system forces states to pursue their national interests, which constrains states to increase their security, which deteriorates the security of other states, especially the neighboring states, leading to security dilemmas. (Sultana, 2021).
Two Nuclear Weapon States
The competition of two nuclear weapon states and the adversarial relationship between India and Pakistan have already complicated the security dynamics of South Asia (Sultana, 2021). The presence of major powers further deteriorates the security situation.
The military and technological developments made by the United States and Israel in India directly threaten Pakistan and compel it to increase its reliance on Pakistan seeks alternative options for security guarantees which Russia and China offer (Sultana, 2021).
Coupled with the security dilemma, the policy change in Pakistan’s foreign affairs towards geopolitics and geoeconomics, as highlighted by the Prime Minister in Uzbekistan’s Conference of Regional Connectivity 2021, also validates her tilt towards Russia.
“Pakistan with a shift in its policy from geo-strategic to geo-economics wants to strengthen its trade and economic relations with other states (APP, 2021)”
“Facts and Findings”
Chapter 1
Economic Relations Between Pakistan and Russia (2014-2017)
Economic and diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Russia have remained moderate and, at times, unfriendly. However, since 2014, bilateral relations started growing at a slow rate, after which both countries made concerted efforts to establish the foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship.
Trade Between Pakistan and Russia
By 2014, the trade between Pakistan and Russia will have increased by six times since 2000. For the first time, the Defence Minister of the Soviet Union or Russia visited Pakistan and wrapped up a ground-breaking contract with Pakistan. Which includes, opening doors for Russian military training of Pakistani army officers, lifting the weapons embargo, taking part in the first joint exercise in order to control drug smuggling in the region and signing defence cooperation between the two countries (Kuriita, 2019).
Russia and Pakistan Construction of Pipeline
Russia and Pakistan signed an agreement for the construction of a pipeline between Karachi and Lahore in 2015. In order to overcome the shortage of Gas in the country, the gas volume of 750MMcfd-1 was given to facilitate the Pakistan system in 2015 (Business Recorder, 2010).
Later in 2017, two companies from Pakistan and Russia signed an agreement regarding cooperation for exploration and development and an agreement for the supply of LNG to Pakistan. (Kurita, 2019). Several opportunities could be carved out bilaterally through improved economic collaboration, joint trade and gas pipelines.
Pakistani-Russian Economic Relations (2018–2021):
Russia and Pakistan have shown significant political determination and taken steps to improve trade cooperation during the last decade. Russia enhanced relations with Pakistan after the United States announced troop withdrawals from Afghanistan beginning in 2014.
In January 2018, Pakistan’s State Bank and Russia’s Central Bank signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral banking cooperation. As a result, bilateral trade climbed from US$442 million in 2017 to US$532 million in 2018.
Shareholders’ Agreement
Russia and Pakistan signed a shareholders’ agreement on July 15, 2021, outlining the arrangements for the construction of a US$2.5 billion (S$3.4 billion) natural gas pipeline in Pakistan (Chia,2021). This project is part of a US$14 billion (S$18.7 billion) Russian investment package in Pakistan’s energy industry in 2019 (Haiqi, 2021).
The two countries are brought together by Pakistan’s quest for economic redemption and energy supply, as well as Russia’s desire to expand its economic influence in Asia.
Four-Decade Old Trade Dispute Resolved
The conclusion in November 2019 of a four-decade trade dispute triggered by the dissolution of the Soviet Union was perhaps the strongest statement yet of mutual commitment to deepening economic ties (Chia and Haiqi, 2021).
Following negotiations that began in 2016, Pakistan paid Russia $93.5 million (S$125 million), clearing the way for a new round of economic engagement.
Shortly after, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov led a 64-member business delegation to Islamabad for an official four-day visit to explore various areas of commercial cooperation and investment with Pakistani counterparts (Chia and Haiqi, 2021).
In 2020, bilateral trade volume reached a new high of US $790 million ($1 billion), up more than 45 percent from the previous year (Haiqi, 2021). Pakistan’s current prime minister, Imran Khan, has been involved in negotiations with Russian businessmen in Islamabad to persuade them to collaborate in the sectors of manufacturing, railways, and energy.
Chapter 2
Military Relations between Pakistan and Russia (2014-2017)
The bilateral relations between Pakistan and Russia after 9/11 were based on rationality. They acted rationally in matters involving international and regional environment and sensitivities, guided by their common strategic and military interests. Especially on the Afghanistan issue and terrorism.
Warming Bilateral Relations
In 2013, the Russian Air Chief, Viktor Bondarev, paid a state-level visit to Islamabad. In the wake of warming bilateral relations between Russia and Pakistan, the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visited Pakistan in 2014 and concluded a military cooperation agreement, exchanged information on political and military issues, and assured mutual collaboration in the military and counter-terrorism sector. Both the states shared similar views on the Afghanistan issue.
Lifting Weapons Embargo
In the following year, further developments in military relations occurred when Russia lifted a weapons embargo on Pakistan. In 2015, the army chief of Pakistan, General Raheel Sharif, visited Russia and purchased the Mi-171E, a multi-role helicopter, and the Mi-35M, an attack helicopter. The delivery of this contract was completed in 2016 and 2017. It was now possible for Pakistan to import the RD-93 engine (used in the JF-17 Combat) directly from Russia.
Joint Military Exercises
In the years 2016 and 2017, from September to October, joint military exercises were conducted between the armies of both states, publicly displaying military relations between both sides. Pakistan and Russia spearheaded the Aman naval exercises, and almost 35 countries, along with Russia’s largest anti-submarine warship, Severmorsk, participated in the exercise.
Military Relations between Pakistan and Russia (2018-2021)
Defence ties between Pakistan and Russia have steadily grown since both countries signed the Joint Military Consultative Committee (JMCC), which was set up in 2018 as the top bilateral forum on defence cooperation.
Intra-Military Delegation
In April 2018, the national security advisors of both countries held high-level security meetings in Moscow, in which both sides discussed strategic and nuclear issues (Hassan Khan, 2021). The escalated intra-military delegatory exchanges between both countries increased thereafter.
In August 2018, an MOU (memorandum of understanding) was signed between the Naval Forces of Pakistan and Russia in order to improve naval cooperation (Khan, 2021). Soon after, in September 2018, military delegations from Pakistan and India participated in the joint exercises hosted by Russia for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The exercises were a symbolic gesture to portray Russia’s role as a mediator and neutraliser amidst the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions (Khan,2021).
Security Training Agreement
Pakistan and Russia also bilaterally signed the “Security Training Agreement” to initiate unilateral training programs for the military officers of Pakistan in Russian armed institutions for the very first time. This agreement was signed after the elimination of Pakistan’s involvement in America’s International Military Education Program by US president Donald Trump (Hassan Khan, 2021).
Joint Military Drills
The Second Round of Russia-Pakistan Joint Military Consultative Committee (JMCC) meetings were held in 2019 and in September 2021, the third meeting took place in Pakistan. Also, a two-week exercise in the counterterrorism domain, “Exercise Druzhba VI,” was held at the Molkino Trg area of Krasnodar, Russia, where special forces of Pakistan and Russia participated in the drill. It has also been agreed to hold the fourth round of JMCC meetings in Russia in 2022.
Pakistan Arms Trade with Russia
In these recent exercises and meetings, Russia has said that it is willing to support and bolster Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts through military assistance and also by conducting joint exercises at regular intervals between Pakistan and Russian armies (Anis and Babar, 2021).
Regarding the arms trade, Pakistan purchased four Mi-35M attack helicopters, which arrived in the country in 2018 and were commissioned into service with the army in the same year.
There may be further sales down the road. In a recent analysis, the Russian think tank Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) indicated that, given Pakistani military requirements and assuming Islamabad will turn to Moscow to fill them, the two could sign a $9 billion deal (Bisaccio, 2019).
This would dramatically dwarf the Mi-35M deal. The Indian media, citing sources in the Indian Ministry of Defence, reported that a range of Russian equipment could be sold, such as Pantsir surface-to-air missiles and T-90 main battle tanks.
Chapter 3
Implications for India
The building of cooperation and trust between Pakistan and Russia is a growing concern in India. If this bilateralism continues to develop at the given pace, it will surely become a bone of contention for India’s politics in the region and international system.
Pak-China-Russia Alliance
The emerging Pak-China-Russia alliance has caused concerns in New Delhi, which has caused India to neutralise the emerging threat through increasing defence cooperation with the United States and Israel.
Growing Pak-Russia stakes and common interests in Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) shall undermine India’s position in the regions.
Russia’s Policy of Balancing
Russia’s policy of balancing India and Pakistan and dealing with them on merit has caused a great setback to India’s over-reliance on Russia. A decade earlier, India’s rejection would have caused Russia to veto any decision regarding Pakistan. However, the tables have turned today. India’s objection is treated as significantly as Pakistan’s.
Due to the escalated defence corporation, Pakistan’s geo-strategic position, the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC), and Pakistan’s dominance over the Afghan Taliban, Russia no longer caters to India as her sole ally in South-Asia. Her position has now been crippled, if not aborted, due to the growing geopolitical and geoeconomics.
Conclusion
Analysis
Lord Palmerston
As Lord Palmerston asserted, “There are no permanent friends or foes in international relations, only permanent interests.” This saying is again validated by the case study of Pakistan and Russia. The states, which until yesterday were involved in ideological blocs and alliances opposite to one another, are today on the same page with regard to international issues .
With the change in regional dynamics and international affairs, Pakistan and Russia both re-evaluated and redefined their interests and alliances respectively.
The huge prices Pakistan paid versus the meagre benefits it sought by being a United States partner in the War on Terror, the increasing military nexus between India-Israel-US (Security Dilemma),
Security and Survival Concerns
The security and survival concerns posed by India (Security Dilemma), along with its contemporary policy shift towards geoeconomics and the Afghan imbroglio, collectively drove Pakistan’s strategic calculus towards a premature conclusion. Pakistan had a policy of partnership towards Russian soil, which addressed all of Pakistan’s concerns.
Military Exports
As for Russia, Pakistan became an intriguing state when the United States imposed sanctions on Russian military exports and Russia wanted to explore new markets in the South Asian region not just to find a suitable buyer of her weaponry but also to neutralise India and her growing alliance with the QUAD countries.
Afghanistan Peace Process
The commonality of interests between Pakistan and Russia in the Afghanistan Peace Process, the Central Asian Energy Market, an increase in economic activity, and allying with China and the Defence Corporation against terrorism in the region brought them onto the table. The era of 2013 to 2018 was marked by a shift in foreign policy for both Russia and Pakistan.
They approached and built military relations with each other. Russia strengthened its military relations with Pakistan, approached Pakistan as a market for its arms sales, and cooperated in the areas of defense, economy, energy, and security. Simultaneously, Pakistan made Russia a military and economic ally.
Geopolitical Competition and Regional Security
The military and economic relations between Pakistan and Russia have grown on the basis of geopolitical competition and regional security in South Asia. Both states needed each other as a partner in the region. The role of Pakistan in the war on terror in Afghanistan and India as a rising power in South Asia have affected the threat perception of Pakistan.
At first, Pakistan thought of its role, as being central and primordial to the United States’ objectives in Afghanistan, but with time, Pakistan realised that America is not actually interested in Pakistan’s national and strategic interests. Pakistan understood that the U.S. and Western powers gave preference to India as a hegemonic power rather than a balance of power.
Shift In The Policy
In this type of environment, Pakistan shifted its policy towards Russia and made Russia its ally. The development of constructive relations between Russia and Pakistan is an important factor in ensuring regional stability. Pakistan is keeping its options with Russia and China open after US military support has dried up.
Russian Military Technology
Russian military technology is high-end, decidedly better than China’s and not as expensive as the West’s. So, Moscow and Islamabad are in dialogue over an arms deal that would see Pakistan procure significant amounts of Russian hardware, including surface-to-air missile systems and tanks.
As the U.S. is squeezing Russian arms exports, Moscow is eager for new markets to sell to, and Pakistan is keen to make diverse purchases.
United States ‘Sanctions
After the United States imposed sanctions on it due to the Crimea and East Ukraine crises, Russia shifted its policy towards China and South and West Asia. Afghanistan is also an important factor in Russia’s security interests in the region. South Asia is seen as a huge market opportunity for Russia to sell its weapons and is also significant for defence and cooperation.
Russia’s Curiosity in Pakistan
There are four factors that captivated Russia’s curiosity in Pakistan, CPEC (Pakistan’s growing relations with China) as the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Pakistan and Taliban
Pakistan’s influence over the Taliban. The market for Russian arms and also the Defence Corporation for Counter Terrorism (ISIS-K in Afghanistan), which made Pakistan a better option for Russians. Pakistan needs to play up smartly, patiently, and by keeping manageable expectations.
Russia’s Natural Resources
Along with military preparedness, Russia also possesses huge energy, gas, and raw material potential. Pakistan and Russia can benefit from each other’s large economic potential with enhanced cooperation and partnership (Pakistan Times, 2020). The SCO forum and the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan have provided both countries with great cooperation opportunities and proved that both countries can benefit from each other’s economies, along with China’s BRI project.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
After China’s BRI project, Pakistan secured a more prominent place in Russia’s foreign policy. Since Pakistan provides a critical route for the CPEC project, which is one of the BRI’s key prongs and provides opportunities for economic cooperation and development, which is beneficial for Russia as well (Khan, 2021).
Russia’s Economic Footprint
Pakistan can take advantage of the fact that Russia’s economic footprint in Asia is still relatively small to develop collaboration and attract Russian investment. On the 70th anniversary of Pakistan-Russia diplomatic relations, the Pakistani foreign ministry issued statements expressing optimism about the two countries’ relations. That these relations are beneficial for both the states and also for regional stability and peace.
Recommendations
Pakistan and Russia should promote this cooperation from infantry stages to next level by exploring other areas of common interest to collaborate as this partnership portrays a win-win situation for both the participants.
Pakistan and Russia should promote flexible visa policies, fully funded academic scholarships, accommodating and economic tourism strategies, bilateral sports engagements and competitions, and cultural exchanges to promote soft images towards each other’s populations and improve people to people connectivity in this respect.
Economically, the energy sector can provide huge potential for cooperation, and both parties should collectively promote their interests in the Central Asian energy market as well.
Additionally, the technological superiority of Russia in Artificial Intelligence, Hypersonic technology, and Autonomous Systems, coupled with the high-tech IT experts in Pakistan, can provide bright prospects for future collaboration which both the states should explore.
Nuclear technology is another sector where both, Russia and Pakistan can increase their potential and boost their respective economies. Nuclear weaponry, technology, warheads, submarines, missiles, etc. should be traded bilaterally.
The Co-Authors of this article are Maria Mehboob, Khaulah Fatimah Ijaz, Zohra Asif and Nizara Kabir.
In this world, there are numerous energy resources hidden inside. Thus, the energy-rich countries can be seen to have bigger economies, and they provide most of the energy supplies to the world.
There are various examples of the above-mentioned statement, such as Iran, the CAR’s (Central Asian region), Russia, China, India, Europe, and last but not least, the U.S. is one of the energy-rich countries, be it gas, oil, or other energy resources like hydropower, wind power, solar power, and other fossil fuels.
Unwittingly, Pakistan is in the dark, even in the 21st century, due to a lack of policy and framework. However, improper distribution of power supply has led to the closure of businesses and disturbances to consumers.
According to the World Bank report (2018), up to 50 million people lack excess grid electricity, and 90 million consumers are facing power shortages. The report further cites that 1/5 of the electricity is lost due to theft and poor infrastructure.
In 2020, the overall import bill was 668.33 million USD out of the total imports of 3.31 billion USD. Pakistan needs a proper policy framework and implementation to be adopted to improve the inefficiencies.
Pakistan’s Primary Sources of Energy
Pakistan’s primary sources are oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and coal energy. The secondary source is renewables such as wind power, hydropower, and solar power.
According to the estimates, Pakistan’s energy mix is comprised of 27% hydropower, 4% renewables, and 67% fossil fuels. Whereas, if we look individually into the fossil fuel contributions, the shares of fuel oil and natural gas stand at 31.2% and 34.6%.
Pakistan’s Oil Consumption
Clearing the dust on oil consumption and production in Pakistan, there is a huge difference year by year. Oil consumption since 2008 has risen from 389.288 mt to 445.864 mt in 2019, and 16.36 million mt in 2020.
According to the Global Economy data, oil production in 2012 was 71.00 THbpd, while in 2019 it was 84.98 THbpd. In 2019, the production of crude oil stood at 4.3 million MT, which was barely meeting 20 percent of the country’s total demand.
Importing Crude Oil
However, 80 per cent of the crude oil was imported, and it costs 15–16 billion USD annually. Pakistan currently has five oil refineries, which mostly run on imported crude oil.
According to the data, the oil imports in July-December (2020/21) were recorded at 4771.471 million USD. The government is looking forward to improving the deficits.
However, the PARCO is vying to invest around $5–6 billion USD to increase the oil production in Pakistan. According to the estimates, the refinery will produce around 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day.
Pakistan’s Gas Production
Simultaneously, natural gas demand is always high in Pakistan, and it contributes 38% of the country’s energy mix. A data cites Pakistan’s gas production is around 4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), although the demand is 6–8 bcfd.
Importing Natural Gas
The government of Pakistan started to import natural gas in 2015. Pakistan consumes 21 cubic feet per capita per day. According to PBS, Pakistan imported LNG worth 2.662 billion USD during June-July 2019 and 2020.
A World Bank report published in 2018 reported that 14 per cent of gas is lost in transmission and distribution, which affects directly or indirectly the sector.
Nuclear Energy
Within the primary energy sources, nuclear power is one of the main components. According to the World Nuclear Association, there are almost six nuclear power plants in Pakistan, generating almost 2,332 MWe.
Meanwhile another six 1100 MW capacity plants are under construction. A report by the International Energy Agency shows that nuclear power is contributing almost 7% to the total energy mix in Pakistan.
Coal Energy
Another primary source of energy in Pakistan is coal. The Thar coal reserves in Sindh are the largest in Pakistan, with a capacity of 184,123 MT. Pakistan is ranked 20th in coal reserves and 38th in coal consumption.
The total coal reserves in Pakistan are estimated at around 183,975 MT. says that the coal energy share has risen to 25% since 2019, due to the addition of the Thar coal power plant and various projects in Baluchistan. In 2019, the coal power share came to almost 2,357 gigawatt-hours.
According to the (world meter) data (2016), Pakistan has approximately 3,377,477,840 tons of coal undiscovered. The data further estimates, Pakistan has 331 years of coal in its reserves, yet the government imports coal annually.
In the below-given graph by The Global Economy, Pakistan imported almost 17,496.31 tonnes of coal in 2018, while in the past it has imported less than half of its current imports.
Renewable Energy
Besides a large chunk of energy coming from fossil fuel, Pakistan is also dependent on renewable energy. Renewable energy is the form of clean and green energy. It has been the goal of all countries to shift from dirty fossil fuels to renewables.
Pakistan and Renewable energy
Thus, Pakistan has made it a goal to meet the international standards to create most of its energy from renewables. Pakistan has assured the globe, that it will shift to 60% clean energy and also 30pc of vehicles by 2030.
At the current pace, Pakistan has a 9,827 MW hydropower capacity. In 1991, hydropower accounted for around 45% of the energy capacity, which has dropped to 27%. Pakistan has installed more than 90 power projects and plants which are generating almost 10132.52 MW.
Pakistan’s Water and Development Authority (WAPDA) has veiled the capacity of 60,000 MW of hydropower potential in the country and is looking forward to working on it soon.
Solar and Wind Energy
Pakistan has the potential to produce solar and wind power. Currently, Pakistan has installed 22 solar projects at an initial stage. They are generating 890MW of energy. The coastal region of Pakistan, which stretches up to 1000+ km, can be utilized as a great opportunity to utilize.
The World Bank has urged the government of Pakistan to expand its solar and wind power to meet at least 30% of the total energy demand by 2030. It is equivalent to up to 24,000MW. The report further explains that renewable energy can reduce environmental threats and improve energy security, and it will help Pakistan save 5 billion USD for up to the next 20 years.
3D printing is the process of creating a three-dimensional digital model layer–by–layer using a computer-created design. It is an additive process by which layers of material are built up to create a 3D part. Chuck Hull invented 3D printing. Industrial products, dental products, replicating ancient artefacts, and movie props are some of the best examples.
How Does 3D Printing Works?
3D printing uses Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to create 3D objects. It involves layering materials like plastics, composites, or biomaterials to create objects that range in shape, size, colour, and rigidity.There are many different kinds of software available to create a 3D model. After you have created your 3D model the next step is to do the slicing. Slicing involves slicing up a 3D model into hundreds or thousands of layers. Slicing is done through the slicing software. When your file is sliced it is ready for 3D printing.
3D Printing Methods
There are many different methods of 3D printing which include:
Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
Stereolithography (SLA)
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
Digital Light Process (DLP)
Multi Jet Fusion (MJF)
PolyJet
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)
Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
It is an inexpensive and widely used method for 3D printing technology of plastic parts. It works by ejecting a plastic filament layer-by-layer onto the build platform. FDM is a cost-effective method but it has low speed and accuracy as compared to other technologies.
Stereolithography (SLA)
SLA is the original industrial 3D printing process where the printer produces the parts with a high level of detail and tight tolerance. It is commonly used in the medical industry and anatomical models.
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
SLS uses a laser energy source that melts together nylon-based powders into solid plastic. In SLS the whole build platform is utilize to nest multiple parts into a single build. Along with this SLS also produces accurate prototypes and functional production parts in as fast as 1 day.
Digital Light Process (DLP)
Digital Light Printer uses a projected light source to cure the entire layer at once. These printers can image an entire layer of the build all at once. It is similar to SLA except that SLA uses a laser that traces the layer whereas the DLP project sources light. DLP also has a highest throughput which makes sit suitable for a low-volume production run of plastic parts.
Multi Jet Fusion (MJF)
MJF uses an inkjet array to apply fusing agents to the bed of nylon powder. It produces high resolution and precise 3D objects with low porosity and high surface quality. A major benefit of MJF is undoubtedly its accelerated build time. It also has lower production costs.
PolyJet
PolyJet is a powerful 3D printing method that can fabricate parts with multiple properties such as colours and materials. These printers can produce thin walls as well as complex geometries using the widest range of materials available with any technology.
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)
DMLS uses a computer-controlled, high-power laser beam to melt and fuse layers of metallic powder. With DLMS you can easily print from alloys containing materials with different melting points. Apart from this it can also create the metal components with complex geometries which makes it suitable for medical applications.
Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
EBM uses an electron beam. The electromagnetic coils controls the electron beam and melts the metal powder. The raw material is placed under a vacuum and fused from heating by the electron beam. A major advantage of EBM is that the process is conducted within a high-vacuum environment thus providing a contamination-free work zone that does not require the use of additional inert gases which are commonly used with laser and arc-based processes.
Cool Things to 3D Print
3D is a powerful printing technology that allows you to bring to life anything you have imagined in your mind. With 3D printing, you can easily hold and feel whatever you have imagined. If you are looking for 3D printing ideas, then here are some cool things to 3D print:
Dress
One of the cool things about 3D printing is the unique designs of the outfits. It is used in fashion and designing. There are 3D printed dresses, swimsuits, helmets, etc.
Shoes
For creating a 3D shoe model, the computer will create an accurate 3D model of your feet combined with the details of measurements to personalize the shoes for you. If you are looking for 3D printing ideas for your shoes then consider 3D printing your sneakers.
Cutlery
3D printing also includes silverware, so you can 3D print your cutlery. 3D-printed cutlery such as spoon, forks, and knives look very beautiful and is easily customizable.
Water Bottles
You can 3D print your water bottles which will make them look very classy. Also, such beautifully painted water bottles or mugs are great ideas for gifts.
Cameras
Cameras nowadays have become a necessity due to the rising popularity of social media. If you want a unique camera then a 3D printer can help you to create it.
Additionally with these things there are a lot of other things which you can 3D print such as : Toys, Violin, Scissors, Tableware, Car Holders, Speakers, Watch stands, Cable straps, Tripod, Phone Stand, Pencil holders, Ear Bud cases, etc.
How Much Does a 3D Printer Cost?
3D printers vary in cost depending upon the size and their ability to print. The cheapest 3D printer cost around $200 whereas an industrial 3D printer cost up to $100,000. The average consumer pays around $650 for a 3D printer. 3D printing cost starts from $3 up to thousands of dollars. For this reason it’s hard to know the exact cost without a 3D model. Factors such as model complexity, materials, and resources required for printing affect the cost of 3D printing.
If you are in need of a space for storing for secret data, a virtual information software data room (VDR) may be the ideal solution. VDRs store methodized and electronic data in a secure position, and their work with ensures better data reliability.
They also permit the simultaneous execution of a variety of business techniques, thereby improving efficiency and speed. Moreover, a VDR improves doc supervision by allowing you to manage and search your documents in a single place.
Many data room providers give scalable and versatile solutions that allow for the addition of new projects and contracts. In addition, they provide user-friendly cadre, so that you can carry out options quickly and effectively.
In addition, you may set rules for identifying files and storage set ups, and have a tech-savvy person handle the VDR. By doing this, you will be able to quickly identify problems and plan your data. A VDR will ensure the security and privacy of sensitive info for businesses.
If you are in the business of providing or getting property or acquiring different assets, a virtual information software Technology could be the perfect choice for you. The solution features substantial levels of info security, helping you to share and edit docs without worry about security risks.
A VDR also allows you to easily get sensitive facts. It is ideal for storing sensitive data, like client lists, financial statement, and other crucial documents.
Additionally, it may improve your operations process simply by allowing you to store documents in a single central site, letting you access these people whenever necessary.
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