2011: A Strategic Survey

The year 2011 will stand out in history as the year of the Arab Spring, when people in Northern Africa and West Asia rose up against tyranny and revolted for political emancipation. The upheaval in the Arab world inspired similar uprisings and outpourings across the world from Russia to China, and even in the world’s largest democracies. The year gone by, which marked the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US, will also be remembered for Osama bin Laden’s killing, which dealt a severe blow on the al Qaeda terror network, and raised hopes of an impending decline of Islamic Jihad. One immediate fallout of Osama’s killing was the souring of US-Pakistan ties as Pakistan’s duplicity in the War on Terror was exposed. Needless to say, Southern Asia, especially the Af-Pak region, remained volatile with Afghanistan struggling to move towards stability and reconciliation with the Taliban, while Pakistan is simmering in intense civil-military strife. 2011 will be known for the economic crisis which has gripped Western economies and is likely to spread to the economies in Asia. Many of these trends will, in all likelihood, continue in 2012.

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