The Responsibility to Protect: Fundamentally Flawed Or Simply Awaiting Reform?
“If humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica – to gross and systematic violations of human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity?”
Poking the Bear: Explaining Russia-NATO Hostilities
The post-2014 hostility between Russia and NATO results from two conflicting geostrategic policies that have contributed to a negative relationship spiral between the two sides: NATO expansionism and Russian irredentism.
Terrorism: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Given its global nature, it is imperative that scholars become accustomed to studying terrorism in the hopes of finding a sustainable solution.
The Islamicate Gunpowder Empires: A Comparative Study
In the early modern period, three empires represented the pinnacle of Islamicate civilisation: the Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals.
The Call
I lay down against my prayer mat, body slumped, half in prostration, half in yearning.
2022: A Middle Year
It’s currently four a.m., and I’ve just realised I haven’t prepared an end-of-year post for this here blog of mine.
Wishes
It was Ali’s first time skipping school, but he didn’t do it without good reason.
Dissonances in Approaches to Power: Poststructuralism and Mainstream IR Theory
This essay aims to highlight the dissonances between mainstream IR and Poststructuralism in regard to power.
International Relations Theory and the Hegemony of Western Conceptions of Modernity: A Critical Review
This essay aims to critically review the arguments presented in chapter two of Decolonizing International Relations.
What Is Power and Who Has It?
This essay aims to arrive at a qualified definition for power and explain its mechanics.
The Aqil Ghani Media Awards 2021
To commemorate the end of 2021, I’m going to share with you my favourite media from this year.
Mass Surveillance and the Erosion of Our Civil Liberties: Why You Should Be Concerned
Britain is becoming a nationwide Panopticon where citizens are the prisoners, and the state their all-powerful guard.
Midnights In London, Part 10
Having seen the unseen, how could one go back to a life of willfully blissful ignorance?
Midnights In London, Part 9
Captain Robertson awoke sometime later – how much time? He wasn’t sure – to find himself in a place he did not recognise.
Bitter Fruit by Saadat Hasan Manto: A Review
In an age of political turmoil, Manto wasn’t afraid to write about the darkest depths of human depravity, and his contribution to literature continues to inspire generations of writers (including yours truly).
Midnights In London, Part 8
Something larger was afoot, and Mr Daim was going to get to the bottom of it.
The Fourth Battle of Panipat
Jayadeep and Arbaaz were sitting beneath the shade of a mango tree in deep discussion.
Midnights In London, Part 7
One moment, they were there, in the confines of that little office in Murdstone & Co. The next, they were somewhere else entirely.
Storytime with Aqil: The Three Fights
I’ve been in my fair share of fights, both in school and out. In some, I was victorious. In most, I was humiliated. Today, I will tell you the story of three of those fights.
Midnights In London, Part 6
Captain Robertson slowly drew his pistol from its holster, the moon glistening off the sweat that trickled down his brow.
Midnights In London, Part 5
This stage of an investigation was always the most arduous. Lesser men would have given up by now, but determination drove Mr Daim forward, and duty dragged Captain Robertson along.
Iron Brothers: Assessing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
CPEC is the flagship for China’s BRI, a global development strategy similar to the US’s Marshall Plan. However, the question must be asked: Is CPEC good for Pakistan?
Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary: A Review
Despite its limitations, I would say that Ansary succeeded in presenting a counter-narrative to global history that proves very enlightening.
Indian National Pact and Bengal Pact – 1923
Multiple attempts were made at snatching back what was lost. In this essay, we will look at the first of those attempts.
Eid Mubarak!
Eid Mubarak. May Allah shower blessings upon you and your family. Ameen.
Midnights In London, Part 4
With one last burst of courage, Captain Robertson swiftly slipped into the room, pistol raised, to find a figure by the window dressed in black as thick as the midnight sky.
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson: A Review
Whenever I think of modern Islamic literature and fiction, this is what will come to mind.
Midnights In London, Part 3
It wasn’t uncommon to see unnamed labourers lying dead in unmarked alleyways. What was uncommon, however, was the nature in which this particular labourer met his fate.
The Greatest Leader in History: Ataturk
“He set an outstanding example in promoting the spirit of mutual understanding between peoples and lasting peace between the nations of the world, having advocated all his life the advent of ‘an age of harmony and co-operation in which no distinction would be made between men on account of colour, religion or race.’”
Midnights In London, Part 2
It was from these very rooms that Britannia commanded her vast empire. Mr Daim was about to enter the belly of the beast.
Midnights In London, Part 1
This wasn’t the first time Mr Daim found himself voyaging halfway across the world. The nature of his work had taken him all over the globe, from the imperial courts of Peking to the dense jungle forests of the Amazon.
I Stared at the Night of the City by Bakhtiyar Ali: A Review
The book had such a profound impact on my own ideas about the power of the imagination that I’d go as far as to include it in my personal canon.
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh: A Review
This book’s social commentary provides insight into rural Punjabi life (in all its glorious vulgarities) and highlights the real human impacts of Partition.
Khilafat Movement and Non-cooperation Movement – 1919-1924
By appealing to both Muslims and Hindus’ religious sentiments, Gandhi was able to rile up the Indian masses in opposition to British rule. So how did Jinnah – “the best ambassador of Hindu–Muslim Unity” – react to all this?
The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi: A Review
The history that I’ve studied in other non-fiction books finally begins to feel real.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond: A Review
No matter your intellectual background or goal, you will find something new and exciting in this book, which will add to your future discoveries.
A Reflection on Loneliness and How to Punch
The stress plaguing me these last few months has finally been lifted from my shoulders, leaving room for the next load of stress that life’s going to throw at me. And so, it is in this moment of respite that I can sit back, relax, and reflect for a minute.
A History of Comic Books and the Rise of Kamala Khan
Ms Marvel began a chain reaction that would pave the way for unprecedented levels of diversity and representation in comic books.
Shaheen
Fiction. Its an interesting thing isn’t it? Inherently false yet at the same time often truer than even the truest encyclopaedia.
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, Rowlatt Act, and Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms – 1919
1919 represented a watershed moment in the Indian Independence Movement.
Aqil Ghani’s Gap Year Goals
I now present to you: Aqil Ghani’s Gap Year Goals!
Limbo
On Thursday, the 13th of August, thousands of students across the country received the most important results in their academic lives. And in a year like no other, this results day would be like no other.
Indo-Africans: The Siddi People of South Asia and The Story of Malik Ambar
With the rise of Islam strengthening connections between different cultures in Africa and Asia, more and more Africans would begin to permanently settle in the Indian Subcontinent.
Lucknow Pact – 1916
The Lucknow Pact serves as an example of Jinnah’s adeptness as a political tactician in the cause for an Independent India.
Partition of Bengal – 1905-1911
The Partition of Bengal is a clear example of how what is in the best interests of one community can be at odds with the best interests of another.
Minto-Morley Reforms – 1909
The reforms allowed Muslims to get into government and rock the boat without fear of being tossed overboard. However, not everyone was happy.
Founding of the All-India Muslim League – 1906
“[Jinnah] has true stuff in him, and that freedom from all sectarian prejudice which will make him the best ambassador of Hindu–Muslim Unity”
Was the British Raj good or bad for the Subcontinent?
In this essay, I will attempt to provide an overview of Britain’s involvement in India (1757-1947) and determine whether the Empire’s involvement was necessary for India to modernize.
Aqil Ghani 