Policy Perspectives (Vol. 13, No. 2)

The latest edition of peer-reviewed IPS’ flagship journal Policy Perspectives – disseminating the research carried out by IPS and its associates on diverse range of current and evolving topics – is out now and is widely available for the readers in Pakistan and abroad.

The latest edition of peer-reviewed IPS’ flagship journal Policy Perspectives – disseminating the research carried out by IPS and its associates on diverse range of current and evolving topics – is out now and is widely available for the readers in Pakistan and abroad.
The first article of the issue ‘Realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Need for an Indigenous Approach’ focuses on SDGs, looking into an all-important question as to how indigenous values and approaches can be brought into play in the journey towards attainment of these goals.
The second article ‘Islamic Insurance: Evolution, Models and Issues’ sheds light on the historical development and evolution of the concept of Islamic insurance – Takaful – and diverse working models experienced over past three and half decades for its practical implementation, in different parts of the Muslim World.
The next article ‘Middle East Refugees’ Crisis: Europeans’ Three Dimensional Approaches’
explores as to how the human-rights-championing European Union – its institutions, individual governments and the people at large – have responded, rather reacted to the new wave of refugees affected by the ongoing wave of violence and instability in the Middle East, specifically Syria.
The fourth article ‘Pan-Arabism: A Tool of Ruling Elites or a Politically-Relevant Ideology?’ is also related to the wider Middle East region, exploring whether Pan-Arabism is really any politically-relevant theory in today’s times or it is only a tool of the ruling elites of the region, for their own vested interests.
The next article ‘U.S.-Israel Special Aid Relationship Dynamics and Implications for Pakistan’, digs deep into the dynamics of this peculiar bondage and its implications for that part of the world, as well as for the wider periphery and countries such as Pakistan.
The sixth contribution ‘Afghanistan: Finding Peace Amidst Chaos’ gives an account of the efforts and initiatives aimed at achieving intra-Afghan peace, in recent months and the prospects ahead in this connection.
The next piece ‘Gwadar: A Historical Kaleidoscope’ argues that geo-strategic location has always rendered Gwadar as an important port for a long time – from ancient period to the British rule over India.
‘Nuclear Energy Security: Emerging Trends and Pakistan’ contends that prevailing global nuclear regime is neither fair enough nor responding to the ground realities of 21st century, as it tries to keep some countries out of the ambit of nuclear energy while opens the floodgates of expertise and technology for certain others.
The issue concludes with a review of performance of the incumbent government in Pakistan vis-à-vis power generation and distribution, during first three years of its tenure, 2013 to 2016.
It is pertinent to mention here that alongside the printed copies, Policy Perspectives is also available online to the global audience through Pluto Journals on JSTOR (www.jstor.org) and on Factiva and affiliated international databases through Asianet-Pakistan. Moreover, It is also indexed in International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA) database through both the print edition (published by Sage) and on the Ebsco and Ovid websites.

Contents
Editor’s Note
Realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Need for an Indigenous Approach Khalid Rahman
Islamic Insurance: Evolution, Models and Issues Atiquzzafar Khan
Middle East Refugees’ Crisis: Europeans’ Three Dimensional Approaches Bakare Najimdeen
­­­­Pan-Arabism: A Tool of Ruling Elitesor a Politically–Relevant Ideology? Faheem Sheikh
U.S.-Israel Special Aid Relationship Dynamics and Implications for Pakistan Murad Ali, Glenn Banks and Nigel Parsons
Afghanistan: Finding Peace Amidst Chaos Syed Ibrahim Moiz
Gwadar: A Historical Kaleidoscope Azhar Ahmad
Nuclear Energy Security: Emerging Trends and Pakistan Rizwana Abbasi
Review of Government’s Performance in Power Sector (2013-2016) Ashfaq Mahmood Summary of Dialogues at IPS