The Elusive Quest for Peace in the Russia-Ukraine War: Diplomacy, Power, and the Path Forward
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The Elusive Quest for Peace in the Russia-Ukraine War: Diplomacy, Power, and the Path Forward

(By Khalid Masood) Three years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, the war grinds on, a brutal testament to the collision of imperial ambition and national resilience. With over 100,000 Ukrainian and Russian casualties, 8 million refugees, and Ukraine’s energy grid in tatters, the conflict has reshaped European security and strained…

Artificial General Intelligence: The Dawn of a New Era in Cognitive Warfare

Artificial General Intelligence: The Dawn of a New Era in Cognitive Warfare

(By Khalid Masood) Across the annals of warfare, technological leaps have reshaped the battlefield—from the longbow’s piercing arc to the Blitzkrieg’s mechanized fury, and from nuclear warheads to drones humming in silent skies. Today, a new frontier beckons: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a theoretical apex of AI capable of human-like reasoning, learning, and creativity across…

Powering Pakistan’s Digital Future: Leveraging Surplus Electricity for Crypto Mining and AI
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Powering Pakistan’s Digital Future: Leveraging Surplus Electricity for Crypto Mining and AI

(By Khalid Masood) In May 2025, as Pakistan basked in the afterglow of its military triumph over India’s ill-fated Operation Sindoor, a quieter revolution took root. The government, seizing a moment of geoeconomic opportunity, allocated 2,000 megawatts (MW) of surplus electricity to fuel Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, heralding a bold leap…

Minorities Under Siege in Modi’s India
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Minorities Under Siege in Modi’s India

(By Khalid Masood) In the heart of South Asia, India’s democratic facade conceals a deepening wound: the systematic erosion of religious freedom for its Muslim, Sikh, and Christian minorities. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) sounded a clarion call on June 3, 2025, declaring that India’s treatment of minorities has deteriorated alarmingly, driven…

AI-Centric Cognitive Warfare: The Next Revolution in Military Strategy
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AI-Centric Cognitive Warfare: The Next Revolution in Military Strategy

(By Khalid Masood) Warfare, through the ages, has been sculpted by technologies that redefine its boundaries. Medieval cavalry yielded to the English longbow’s lethal precision; impregnable castles crumbled under cannon fire; and Germany’s Blitzkrieg shattered the plodding trench warfare of World War I. Each shift was not merely tactical but existential, altering the calculus of…

From Defence to Development: Rethinking Pakistan’s Security Paradigm
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From Defence to Development: Rethinking Pakistan’s Security Paradigm

(By Khalid Masood) In the crucible of May 2025, Pakistan’s military valor illuminated the skies, repulsing India’s Operation Sindoor with BeiDou-guided precision strikes that felled six Indian jets and shattered New Delhi’s belligerent ambitions (Le Monde, May 8, 2025). This triumph, sparked by India’s hasty accusations over the April 22 Pahalgam attack, reaffirmed Pakistan’s defensive…

India’s Strategic Delusion: Global Power Dreams, Local Missteps
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India’s Strategic Delusion: Global Power Dreams, Local Missteps

(By Khalid Masood) India’s ambition to ascend as a global superpower, a “21st-century Vishwaguru,” gleams with the promise of a nation poised to rival China’s dominance. With a $4.27 trillion economy, a youthful demographic, and a vocal diaspora, New Delhi envisions itself as a democratic beacon steering the global order. Yet, beneath this radiant narrative…

Drone Storm Rising: India Eyes Ukraine-Style Tactics

Drone Storm Rising: India Eyes Ukraine-Style Tactics

(By Khalid Masood) The recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian air bases, notably the June 1, 2025, strikes on Olenya and Belaya airfields, highlight the emerging threat of low-cost, high-volume drone swarms capable of overwhelming sophisticated air defences and destroying high-value assets like strategic bombers (The Guardian, Jun 2, 2025). Ukraine’s operation, codenamed “Pavutyna,” used…

Satellite Supremacy: BeiDou’s Role in Pakistan’s 2025 Victory
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Satellite Supremacy: BeiDou’s Role in Pakistan’s 2025 Victory

(By Khalid Masood) In the brief but pivotal Indo-Pak war of May 7–15, 2025, Pakistan’s military prowess stunned the world, turning India’s Operation Sindoor—a retaliatory strike following the April 22 Pahalgam attack—into a strategic debacle. At the heart of Pakistan’s triumph was China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), a jam-resistant, encrypted, multiband navigation network that…

From Vishwaguru to Alone: India’s G7 Exclusion
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From Vishwaguru to Alone: India’s G7 Exclusion

(By Khalid Masood) In the wake of the brief but bruising Indo-Pak war of May 7–15, 2025, India finds itself grappling with an unaccustomed diplomatic isolation. The conflict, sparked by the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists, saw India’s Operation Sindoor—a retaliatory strike against alleged terrorist sites in Pakistan—fail to achieve its…