Security Dynamics in Pakistani Balochistan: Religious Activism and Ethnic Conflict in the War on Terror
Abstract Balochistan is in the grip of two distinct and mutually exclusive ethnonational and religious movements that straddle important swathes of its rugged and mountainous territory. From Quetta up in the north to the coast of Makran in the south, Balochistan is being shaped by the twin forces of local nationalism and jihadist organizations. Domestically, the issue of Balochistan has remained an Achilles heel for Pakistan's policy makers culminating in five separate insurgencies in the post-colonial era. All such insurgencies had to do with the imperative of a centralizing elite and the recalcitrance of a local elite resisting assimilationist pressures. On the religious front, since 2009 Balochistan has come under increased scrutiny, with the Americans alleging that Quetta and its environs are a safe haven for the Taliban leadership, including Mullah Omar. Coincidentally, Quetta has also seen rising sectarian conflict, and the Shia-Sunni divide in the city continues to assume importance in the War on Terror. In light of the rising tide of Baloch nationalism and jihadist activism, including sectarian killings, the paper puts forth a critically oriented analysis of the twin dynamics of religious activism and ethnic conflict in Balochistan and its attendant ramifications for domestic, regional, and global security.
Rethinking Baloch Secularism : What the Data
Since 1947, Baloch have resisted inclusion into the Pakistan and have waged several waves of ethno-nationalist insurgency against the state. Scholars and Baloch nationalist leaders alike generally assert that Baloch are more secular than other Pakistanis, more opposed to the political Islamist policies pursued by the state, and less supportive of Islamist militancy in the country. However, these claims lack empirical support. We employ data derived from a large national survey of Pakistanis from 2012 to evaluate these conventional wisdoms. Contrary to claims in the literature, we find that Baloch resemble Pakistanis generally with few important exceptions
Numerical Simulation for Natural State of Two-Phase Liquid Dominated Geothermal Reservoir with Steam Cap Underlying Brine Reservoir
Hydrothermal reservoir which liquid-dominated hydrothermal reservoir is a type of geothermal reservoir that most widely used for power plant. The exploitation of mass and heat from the geothermal fluid will decrease the pressure in the reservoir over time. Therefore the pressure drop in the reservoir will have an impact on the formation of boiling zones or boiling will increase. The impacts are an increase in the fraction of steam, dryness, in the reservoir and with good vertical permeability will form a steam cap underlying the brine reservoir. The two- phase liquid dominated reservoir is sensitive to the porosity and difficult to assign average properties of the entire reservoir when there is boiling zone in some area of the reservoir. These paper showed successful development of two-phase liquid dominated geothermal reservoir and discussed the formation of steam cap above brine reservoir through numerical simulation for state natural conditions. The natural state modeling in steam cap shows a match with the conceptual model of the vapor-dominated developed. These paper also proofed the presence of transition zone, boiling zone, between steam cap and brine reservoir.