The Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) hosted an In-House Meeting with a 2-member media delegation from Egypt on December 3, 2018.
The delegation included Mr. El Sayed Hany, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Al Gomhuria and Dr. Hanna Abdul Fattah, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Urdu, Al-Azhar University.
The meeting was attended by Director General ISSI, Ambassador (Retd) Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Mr. Najam Rafique, Director Research, Mr. Ahmad Saffee, Research Fellow, Ms. Arhama Siddiqa, Research Fellow and Mr. Taimur Khan, Research Associate and Media Officer.
Welcoming the guests, Director General ISSI, Ambassador (Retd) Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry spoke about Pakistan’s role in the contemporary world order. He said that the world around us is changing. At the international level, it can be seen that the United States, which is still considered the most powerful country in the world, is now viewing its relations with China and Russia as the highest priority. New centers of powers have come up, thus challenging the US hegemony. Sideways, a lot of other changes can also be seen: immigrants are no more welcomed and are perceived as a security threat; narrow nationalism is rising in countries; and free trade is under protectionist threat. Conflicts around the world have increased. The Middle East alone is a prime example of this: the Palestinian issue has not settled, Libya is still struggling and Syria and Yemen are immersed in civil wars. In the Asia-Pacific region, the North Korean problem still exists and there are tension in the South China Sea. In the South Asia region, Afghanistan is still at war – more than 40 percent of the country is not under government control. The Daesh has also moved into eastern Afghanistan. Pakistan believes that in this case negotiated peace must be sought.
