Balochistan, in the north of West Pakistan (Quetta is capital), does not get much international press coverage. The Carnegie Endowment for Peace has just published a lengthy report on the politics of the region https://bit.ly/11iW904
Any aspiring diplomat should be able to write/gather such reports. I recommend pro-actively spending the time of perusing this report asking oneself: how can I report in this way? The key word – next to clarity – is depth, depth, depth.
I’m not arguing that this report is the “truth” – simply that the author has gathered enough lead points to allow for a nuanced and informed view.
On the substance:
- The interplay between regionalism and religion is worth noting. In order to defeat regional political movements the center played the fundamentalist religious card.
- The ghost of policies past: regionalism defeated Pakistan in Bangla Desh. The “lesson learned” is applied by analogy to Balochistan. With disastrous results.
- The interplay with developments beyond the border (Afghanistan).
- Worth noting is the UN role: by overseeing some form of fact-finding and transparency it may be the precursor of a national political process.
