Evolving Global Order: Islamabad Symposium 2025 Explores Alternatives to Western Dominance

As the Global South, comprising 86% of the world's population, seeks to break free from the constraints of Western dominance, the Islamabad Symposium 2025 offered valuable insights into the path forward. The symposium's discussions, centered around the theme "Balancing Relationships Between the Global North and Global South: Challenges and Opportunities," highlighted the need for inclusive multilateralism and collective development in the face of Western double standards. The symposium's focus on Pakistan's potential to play a leadership role in the Global South served as a catalyst for reevaluating the country's Afghan policy, which has been marred by tragic losses and a flawed approach.

Key Takeaways:

• The symposium's key takeaway is that a multi-nodal world order is evolving, marking the end of an era of dominance by one country or a group of countries.
• The Western "rules-based order" has suffered a loss of credibility, while the Global South has opted for inclusive multilateralism and collective development and cooperation as a response to weaponised interdependence.
• Pakistan's leadership role in the Global South is critical, particularly in fostering a geo-economic approach to its relationship with Afghanistan.
• Islamabad's strategic policy toward Afghanistan has been marked by a lack of realism, resilience, and adaptability, with a failure to revise its Afghan policy despite the APS Peshawar massacre of 2014.
• Dr. Muhammad Zahid Latif's book, "Pakistan's Search for Peace with Afghanistan: Statecraft, Policy, and Strategy," provides thoughtful guidance for peaceful coexistence and the future trajectory of Pak-Afghan relations.
• The book's author, Dr. Zahid, a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army, emphasizes the importance of a geo-economic approach in shaping Pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan.
• Pakistan has suffered immense losses due to its defective and outdated Afghan policy, and it is yet to accept that this policy was fundamentally flawed.

Statistics:

• The Global South comprises 86% of the world's population.
• Over 100,000 civilians and security personnel have lost their lives due to the Pak-Afghan relationship's shifting narratives.
• The APS Peshawar massacre of 2014 claimed the lives of numerous civilians.

Sources:

• Pakistan's Search for Peace with Afghanistan: Statecraft, Policy, and Strategy - a book written by Dr. Muhammad Zahid Latif, the Rector NUST.