Center for Regional Strategy and Global Affairs - CRSGA

Center for Regional Strategy and Global Affairs - CRSGA CRSGA Formerly CSRP @ University of Lahore is an Independent Think Tank on regional strategy and global affairs

05/08/2026

Brussels just put a number on what Pakistan stands to lose. Seven point five billion euros.

It’s called GSP+ — the EU trade scheme that’s let Pakistan export tariff-free to Europe since 2014, in exchange for implementing 27 international conventions on human rights and governance. The EU’s newest report is one of the toughest Pakistan has ever received — citing enforced disappearances, shrinking media freedom, and a formal complaint now on file.

Those are fair criticisms. Pakistan should answer them.

But this is the same European Union that’s watched catastrophic civilian loss of life in Gaza and instability across Lebanon — without threatening a single trading partner’s tariff status over it. If human rights conditionality is the principle, principles don’t selectively apply only to the partners with less leverage to push back.

The verdict is live. Watch it. Share it.

02/08/2026

There’s a mineral in almost everything modern — your phone’s chip, every fighter jet’s night-vision system, every AI data center on earth. It’s called antimony.

China controls sixty percent of the world’s supply and nearly all of the high-grade refining. In 2024, Beijing simply cut off antimony exports to the US. Prices doubled overnight — proving a mineral most people have never heard of can bring a superpower’s supply chain to its knees.

In 2025, fresh antimony deposits were discovered in Balochistan. Overnight, Pakistan wasn’t just hosting a Chinese port — it was sitting on ground the entire US-China rivalry suddenly needed. And this year, Pakistan fought an actual war on its western border, striking militant sanctuaries across the Afghan border that keep bleeding the province.

Balochistan isn’t unstable by accident. The verdict is live. Watch it.

28/07/2026

Three villages in south Lebanon are supposed to prove Hezbollah is disarming. One mayor already calls it theater — and he might be right, for a reason nobody’s saying out loud.

Look at the design of the test itself. Two of the three pilot villages sit outside Israel’s buffer zone — no Israeli soldier has to move for that “pilot” to count as a success. Only the third village actually requires a withdrawal, and it’s already stalled with no timeline.

Srifa’s own mayor told Al Jazeera he wasn’t even informed his village was part of the plan. His words: “Today is the same as yesterday.”

Netanyahu’s office calls disarmament “far from sufficient.” Hezbollah calls the framework “null and void.” Lebanon’s president is in Washington asking Trump for the one thing the deal itself couldn’t guarantee.

This isn’t a plan being tested. It’s a plan being staged. The verdict is live.

19/07/2026

In March this year, Iranian drones hit two Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE, and damaged a third in Bahrain. For the first time in history, a data center became a confirmed military target.

That should raise an uncomfortable question. Where does Pakistan’s data actually live?

For years, mostly not here. Pakistan has roughly 30 data centers total — tiny by global standards. Most of the country’s cloud computing, banking backups, and AI processing ran through foreign servers, sitting in the Gulf, in Europe, anywhere but home.

That’s finally changing. A $230 million Huawei data center deal. A $4.5 billion sovereign cloud opportunity. A billion-dollar government commitment to domestic AI infrastructure.

A data center isn’t just a warehouse of computers. It’s where a nation’s memory, money, and privacy physically live. The verdict is live. Watch it. Share it.

16/07/2026

Pakistan has 252 million people. Two-thirds are under thirty — one of the youngest populations on Earth.

In economics, that’s supposed to be gold. A demographic dividend. The same advantage that powered China’s and South Korea’s rise.

But the numbers tell a harder story. Ten million more people got jobs in the last four years — and unemployment still went up, because the population grew faster. Education spending has fallen to 0.8% of the economy, at the exact moment the largest generation of children in Pakistan’s history needs schooling.

A young population without jobs or skills doesn’t become a dividend. It becomes a pressure cooker.

The verdict is live. Watch it. Share it.

Anza Saqib Akhund

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20/06/2026

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Strategy · Diplomacy · Global Affairs

15/06/2026

More than a summit.
A week of culture, connections, and conversations that stay with you long after you leave.

Visit our website for details

https://iysp.crsga.org

Center for Regional Strategy and Global Affairs - CRSGA

The 4th International Youth Summit Pakistan (IYSP 2026), organized by the Center for Regional Strategy and Global Affair...
15/06/2026

The 4th International Youth Summit Pakistan (IYSP 2026), organized by the Center for Regional Strategy and Global Affairs - CRSGA , University Of Lahore will take place from 27 November – 4 December 2026.

IYSP does not charge any registration fee. Participation is based on a competitive application and selection process.

🌐 https://iysp.crsga.org

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