Advancing Stability Through Developmental Research

Independent insights and policy recommendations for sustainable development

Expanding Terrorism: Pakistan’s Counter-Terror Response and the Afghan Conundrum

Asif Haroon Raja In the wake of the steadily intensifying cross-border terrorism orchestrated by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) from Afghan soil into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and…

10 Min Read

The Strategic Significance for Securing U.S. Access to Bagram Air Base

Bagram Airfield (BAF), also known as Bagram Air Base, is situated approximately 11 kilometers southeast of Charikar…

China’s National Day: A Celebration of Growth, Friendship, and Future Cooperation with Pakistan

On October 1st, China commemorates its National Day, a celebration of the remarkable journey it has traversed…

The Significance of Trilateral Cooperation in Changing Security Dynamics

The year 2025 is being considered the year of active diplomacy. Since January, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign…

A  Shift in Tunes

The concept of terrorism in South Asia was first injected by India in 1971. Under the guise…

How Pakistan is Becoming the Operating Channel in Iran–US Talks

(By: Nuzhat Nazar) What we are witnessing around Pakistan’s role in the Iran–US talks is no longer…

PTI’s Escalating Anti-State Trajectory

The party is once again mobilizing for a renewed phase of street agitation, despite the prevailing security…

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Regional Connectivity, Innovation, and Security in Balochistan

The Centre for Development and Stability (CDS) organized a one-day…

Seminar Held in Rawalakot Honoring “The Iron Lady of Jammu & Kashmir”

A seminar titled “The Iron Lady of Jammu & Kashmir”…

Disinformation: The Undermining Force Within—Revealing its Structural Threats to Society and National Security

ISLAMABAD: The Centre for Development and Stability (CDS), organized seminar…

Editor's Pick

PTI Stuck in a Big Mess

PTI's last hope of returning to power was dashed after its most favored justice Mansoor Ali Shah was put out…

Pakistan’s Road to Stability Runs Through Diplomacy

In 2025, Pakistan has sought to reposition itself at the center of regional diplomacy, using trilateral engagement with China and…

4 Min Read

The Suspension of US Aid to Pakistan: Implications and Impact

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has paused new funding for programs in Pakistan following an executive order…

5 Min Read

Trump’s Bold Gamble in the Middle East: Economic Power Plays and Diplomatic Realignment

The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump’s recent high-profile tour of the Middle East covering Saudi Arabia,…

9 Min Read
Bangladesh at a Strategic Inflection Point (2026)

Election Outcome, Incoming Power Structure, and Regional Recalibration By: Nuzhat Nazar and…

10 Min Read
Serious Rifts within PTI

After 10 April 2022, the leaders, activists, workers and supporters of PTI…

7 Min Read

For you

Expanding Terrorism: Pakistan’s Counter-Terror Response and the Afghan Conundrum

Asif Haroon Raja In the wake of the steadily intensifying cross-border terrorism orchestrated by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan…

10 Min Read

Hanging Between Peace and War

Asif Haroon Raja Iran: Most Sanctioned Country Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran has lived under the shadow of…

12 Min Read

Deep Mistrust and a Cycle of Hostility: Why the US–Iran Conflict Cannot End

Given the back-to-back wars in June 2025 and February 2026, and the unresolved core disputes, it is highly doubtful that…

12 Min Read

April 26, 2026

West Asia's Fragile Ceasefire Hangs by a Thread Asif Haroon Raja Trump had imposed a war on Iran on February…

12 Min Read

April 26, 2026

When Time Becomes Iran’s Advantage and America’s Constraint (By: Nuzhat Nazar) The approaching end of the 60-day window under the…

4 Min Read

When Strategy Replaces Diplomacy in Islamabad

(By: Nuzhat Nazar) With Abbas Araghchi now in Islamabad, and American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arriving in parallel,…

4 Min Read

April 25, 2026

Ceasefire Extension, Hormuz Tensions, and the Emerging Strategic Deadlock Asif Haroon Raja Background Full-scale war broke out on February 28,…

America Can Fight This War. Can It Sustain It?

By: Nuzhat Nazar The question is not whether the United States can fight a war with Iran. It clearly can.…

6 Min Read

West Asia’s Fragile Diplomacy, Controlled Escalation to Peace

Asif Haroon Raja Current Strategic Landscape Tensions between the United States and Iran have once again approached a critical inflection…

Rebalancing Power: Why America Must Align Strategy with Economic Reality

By: Nuzhat Nazar For much of the post Cold War era, the United States did not have to choose between…

6 Min Read

Pakistan in the Global Spotlight: From Strategic Constraint to Diplomatic Centrality

Pakistan has, once again, stepped into the global spotlight—this time not as a peripheral actor, but as a pivotal intermediary…

11 Min Read

COAS is in Tehran

The current mission of Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Asim Munir, to Tehran is a move born out…

6 Min Read

Escalation Without Resolution

With a naval blockade tightening in the Gulf and missile batteries shifting across Iran, the US–Iran standoff is no longer…

9 Min Read

Can Pakistan Afford Neutrality in the US–Iran Conflict?

This "active neutrality" requires Islamabad to serve as a high-stakes courier, translating the rigid security requirements of Washington into a…

7 Min Read

How Pakistan is Becoming the Operating Channel in Iran–US Talks

(By: Nuzhat Nazar) What we are witnessing around Pakistan’s role in the Iran–US talks is no longer just occasional mediation.…

5 Min Read