CIAO DATE: 02/2012
Winter 2012
Bilal Baloch
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) plays a pivotal role in the current coalition government that presides over Pakistan. Indeed, the period 2002-2011 has shown that a lack of support from the MQM can threaten Islamabad to the point of dissolution. However, the MQM has not always enjoyed this lofty status.
Theirs is a story intertwined with the modern history of the Muhajir people. It is a history that is
associated with mass riots, murders, street terrorism, illicit taxes, and the cult of personality that is Altaf Hussain: the political, and many also argue spiritual, leader of the MQM. In establishing the party in 1985, Hussain's goal was to give the Muhajirs political representation in Pakistan. Hussain has since navigated the MQM through a turbulent period (1992-1999) - in which party workers and supporters were actively
Crisis Management in Libya: Learning the Lessons of 1986 (PDF)
Sarah Charlton
In April 1986, the Reagan administration, with the support of the Thatcher administration in the United Kingdom, bombed several targets within Libya as retaliation for Libyan terrorism that they believed had begun to challenge essential U.S. security interests. Although the stated goal was to change Libya's behavior and reduce its incentives for supporting terrorism, senior leaders and policymakers were quick to declare victory based on military success in striking the targeted sites. Libya's subsequent support for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which came down over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and the bombing of the Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) Flight 772 in Africa, taken down
over Niger in 1989, provide meaningful rebuttals to claims that the 1986 action succeeded in preventing Libyan support for terrorism
The Evolution of Participation Banking in Turkey (PDF)
Liam Hardy
Participation banking, a moniker for financial practices structured in accordance with Islamic law, has not traditionally made up a large segment of Turkey's finance sector due to the country's secular tradition since the start of the modern Republic in 1923. However, participation banking has grown in recent years because of more permissible public attitudes, decreased trust in the conventional banking sector after financial crises in 2001 and 2008, and the desire to attract capital from the Gulf region. As a result, the current government, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), has sought to shape a regulatory framework for participation banking in line with the country's changing sensibilities towards the role of religion in public life. This has developed in conjunction with an expansion of Islamic finance in the global economy more generally.
From Silk to Sanctions and Back Again: Contemporary Sino-Iranian Economic Relation (PDF)
Aaron Morris
Sino-Iranian economic ties have grown increasingly robust over the past 40 years despite efforts by the international community to strengthen the diplomatic and economic isolation of Iran vis-à-vis an ever-intensifying sanctions regime. As other nations retreat from their interactions with Iran, China benefits from consistent access to its oil and gas reserves in an environment of minimal international competition. Through this relationship, Iran finds a market for its vast oil and gas assets, as well as a partner through which to obtain support for infrastructure projects. It also benefits from importing China's refined gasoline for internal consumption, as Iran does not possess the internal capacity to produce refined petroleum in sufficient quantities to meet internal demand.