Hi! I’m Pallas Lake and I’m excited to use this class to explore my interests in international politics. My main goal for this class is to better understand what is going on in the world and build skills that will keep me up to date and give me a sense of what is happening in the future. I think this class will also connect with my HIST 240 class which covers the history of war in the modern world. I believe understanding the past gives us a better grasp of what is happening in the present and I think both classes will connect to that idea. In the future, I hope to get involved in undergraduate research and possibly study abroad during the summer!
Pakistan
I chose Pakistan as my country for this project. Pakistan is the 5th most populous country with a population of over 235 million. The most notable geographical feature of the country is the Indus River which runs through Pakistan into the Arabian Sea. Another is the region of Kashmir which is situated along the western Himalayas, this region has been disputed between Pakistan, India, and China since Pakistan’s independence.
Ethnically, Pakistan is made up of five major ethnic groups (in addition to its multiple ethnic minority groups as well). Punjabis make up around half of the population of Pakistan, with Pashtuns and Sindhis together making up the next quarter of the population. Lastly, there are the muhajirs, Balochs, and other ethnic minorities who make up the remaining quarter.
Current Events in Pakistan
Since June, record-breaking rains have flooded Pakistan leaving almost 1,700 people dead, with more than 600 being children. These floods have also led to an increase in water and vector-borne diseases as well as increased food insecurity of an additional 5.74 million people which was documented in the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ latest report. Many officials are blaming climate change for the floods, with the floods being larger than ever before due to glacial melt. It is unclear if the country will receive the $816 million dollars it has requested in aid for relief efforts.
Due to the recent flooding, economic issues in Pakistan have worsened considerably. These economic troubles have ultimately led the Finance Minister of Pakistan, Miftah Ismail, to resign from the position. He will be the fifth Finance Minister to resign in the past four years. Ishaq Dar has now replaced Ismail, returning to Pakistan after five years of self-imposed exile in London after allegations of corruption were made against him and to seemingly avoid his court proceedings with Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau after they filed a case against him for having assets outside of his know sources of income as a veteran politician. Many politicians from the opposition have raised their concerns about this choice of replacement for Ismail, and now Pakistan must see for itself if those concerns are correct.
