The security-development nexus has become one of the most important agendas especially in the field of peacebuilding in response to urgent needs in complex humanitarian assistance in war-torn areas. With the changing dynamics of conflict since the end of the Cold War, recent peacebuilding efforts have employed a combination of security and development paradigm to ameliorate severe human rights situations in different contexts. In particular, the functionality of security-development nexus has been well observed in post-conflict scenarios where broader state-building, institutional, security, and governance-related reforms were implemented to ensure sustainable peace processes. In addition, it has been criticized in terms of the imposed liberal values. This article critically analyzes the security-development nexus and attempts to examine how and why the nexus has become essential to the post-Cold War peacebuilding framework. It further elucidates the role of the United Nations (UN) as the leading actor in peacebuilding operations, especially in the form of UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) which have played a significant role in establishing and consolidating peace in various conflict-ridden societies.
 
 


 
 
 The Indo-US strategic bonding is shifting the security dynamics of the South Asian balance-of-power in Indian favour. From the signing of 123 US-India Nuclear Deal to the facilitation in becoming a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the US has clearly designated India as an instrumental element in the American grand strategy of devising a ‘new world order’. As a result, India has grabbed the opportunity of alleviating its status as a credible regional and global power. In this regard, the US tilt towards India is significantly paving grounds for a strategic imbalance in the South Asian region, thus creating challenges for Pakistan. Therefore, this paper argues that the growing bonhomie between the US and India is a destabilizing factor in the region which reinforces Pakistan’s fast falling into the Chinese orbit; thereby cementing the old friendship into a new strategic partnership. This dynamic certainly gives China and Pakistan an incentive to work together so as to keep the value of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence alive. In an effort to expand the horizon on the subject, the paper is dedicated to critically examine the existing cooperation between India and the US while equally foreseeing the possible implications for the region in the face of such destabilizing cooperation. More importantly, based on qualitative data, this paper explores how Indo-US strategic partnership is directly impacting Pakistan and its strategic partnership with China; thereby explaining how the growing relationship between the US and India has undermined the traditional balance-of-power in the South Asian region?
 
 


 
 
 Few years following its creation, the United Nations (UN) with the blessing of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) decided to establish the UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), as a multilateral mechanism geared at fulfilling the Chapter VII of the UN Charter which empowered the Security Council to enforce measurement to maintain or restore international peace and security. Since its creation, the multilateral mechanism has recorded several successes and failures to its credit. While it is essentially not like traditional diplomacy, peacekeeping operations have evolved over the years and have emerged as a new form of diplomacy. Besides, theoretically underscoring the differences between diplomacy and foreign policy, which often appear as conflated, the paper demonstrates how diplomacy is an expression of foreign policy. Meanwhile, putting in context the change and transformation in global politics, particularly global conflict, the paper argues that traditional diplomacy has ceased to be the preoccupation and exclusive business of the foreign ministry and career diplomats, it now involves foot soldiers who are not necessarily diplomats but act as diplomats in terms of peacekeeping, negotiating between warring parties, carrying their countries’ emblems and representing the latter in resolving global conflict, and increasingly becoming the representation of their countries’ foreign policy objective, hence peacekeeping military diplomacy. The paper uses decades of Pakistan’s peacekeeping missions as a reference point to establish how a nation’s peacekeeping efforts represent and qualifies as military diplomacy. It also presented the lessons and good practices Pakistan can sell to the rest of the world vis-à-vis peacekeeping and lastly how well Pakistan can consolidate its peacekeeping diplomacy.
 
 


 
 
 The United Nations in the 21st century: Dilemmas in World Politics is a noteworthy book on the world’s leading international organization and international relations which provides a comprehensive introduction of the United Nations (UN), its functions and its role in the promotion of peace and stability. and the book has a lot to offer in terms of the United Nations in the broader context of global politics; reflecting mainly on its history, challenges, and reforms, etc. The book offers an in-depth account concerning the functions of the United Nations i.e. how the UN works and also sheds light on the numerous challenges faced by the organization in the present century. From terrorism to piracy and from evolved threats to human security such as cybercrimes to climate change and global warming, the authors in the book accord due importance to the new players on the international scene.
 
 


 
 
 This paper compares the coverage of Kashmir Conflict in four English language dailies: two from Pakistan; DAWN and The Nation, and two from India; ‘The HINDU’ and ‘Times of India’ by employing Galtung’s Model of Peace Journalism (Galtung, 1986; 1998) and Lynch & McGoldrick’s (2005) Two-Sided Conflict Model. The study pursues two research questions; is the coverage of these newspaper war or peace- oriented, and do they report Kashmir Conflict through Two-Party (Pak-India) or Multi- Party lenses. For data sources, seven major recent events; Burhan Wani’s killing (2016), Uri Attack, Indian Surgical Strikes, Pulwama Attack, Balakot Airstrike, and Abhi Nandan’s Capture and Release (2019) were chosen. A total of 56 stories, one lead story and one editorial from each newspaper about every event, were collected. Each story was evaluated according to Galtung’s 19 indicators; nine War, nine Peace and one Neutral, and accordingly categorized. The analysis revealed that DAWN had the highest (46.15%) peace-oriented coverage while The HINDU was second with only 23% peace content. In the war category, The Nation scored the highest (100%) while the Times of India was found second (92.85%). No story could qualify for the neutral category. Overall, the coverage of these newspapers was found grossly (81.13%) war- oriented. Moreover, in the coverage of the Kashmir Conflict, the media succumb to the Two-Sided Model, projecting Pakistani and Indian states as the only legitimate parties while Kashmiris are portrayed as mere passive victims. These newspapers also focus only on visible effects and heavily rely on elite positions. The purpose of this study was to examine how much Peace Journalism–being reasonably advocated throughout the last decade in the Subcontinent–has changed the attitude of our media towards peace reporting.
 
 


 
 
 Every conflict in the world, be it internal or external, leaves crippling scars on the affected region and the people that inhabit it. At some point during the resultant chaos, there appears a window of opportunity, which if used wisely has the potential to bring forward effective change. The said window of opportunity is hope for change, but it is also a challenge. The challenging aspect is to most optimally utilize this opportunity - as an instrument to benefit the people and eventually rebuild the shattered society in a stable and long-lasting manner. The primary objective of this essay is to understand the very contours of post-conflict development and to understand the case of North Waziristan in the FATA using the previously mentioned theoretical reflections. The essay is an attempt to understand the challenges confronted by the country and its people from a foreign perspective. The ultimate aim of the essay is to answer whether there is or if there should be a possibility of Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) in post-conflict development in North Waziristan, in addition to understanding the existence of any on-going CIMIC ventures in the area and their role in rebuilding the conflict-struck area. The assertions, conclusions, and arguments in this essay are based on academic journals, articles, and available secondary data alongside the personal interactions with the locals in Pakistan.
 
 


 
 
 Adamawa State in North-Eastern Nigeria has been battling with the Boko Haram crisis for over a decade. While the group is yet to be significantly decimated, a new gang known as Yan Shilla has emerged and continues to wreak serious havoc among the inhabitants of the state. Within a month of the emergence of a new political administration in the state in May 2019, the group was banned. This paper critically examines the implications of the proscription of the group, and general peace and security of the state. Using the theory of securitization, the paper argues that, although proscription of the group has heralded attention of security agents to the threat of the group, it does not constitute sustainable management of gang violence in the state. The root of the crises such as widespread poverty, decadence in education, and increase in school drop-out rates have fuelled the emergence of the criminal gangs in the state. Consequently, the paper recommends that the Nigerian government and the state in question should consider addressing the root causes of its myriad of security challenges by addressing widespread poverty, education, and unemployment among the youths. Similarly, the government should prioritize education through funding and also criminalize political patronage of these gangs by the politicians. Finally, it is also recommended that good governance should be entrenched in the political administration of the state.
 
 


 
 
 In the book titled Civil War and Democracy in West Africa: Conflict Resolution Elections and Justice in Sierra Leone and Liberia, author David Harris comprehensively exemplifies how in the twenty-first century, elections are viewed and used as determinants in post-conflict settings. The author builds on the aforementioned argument while generally tracing the development of conflict resolution in Africa during the post-Cold War era, but while dedicating distinct attention to such developments in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Through the case studies of the two West African states i.e. Sierra Leone and Liberia, the author critically analyzes the emphasize accorded to the role of elections as the core of conflict termination and how the failure to participate in elections leaves states consequences which are completely uncalled for. The author lays substantial stress on questioning the role of the international community in strengthening the significance of post-conflict elections and conceptions of transitional justice, especially the emergence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) generally, alongside the emergence of ad hoc hybrid systems such as the Sierra Leone Special Court (SLSC) particularly. The author does not just illustrate a vivid picture of the literature on contemporary conflict resolution more broadly but does so specifically in relation to the African continent and the emergence of the new war notion in respect of Africa's various intra-state conflicts. Harris, in this account also provides a detailed portrayal of thematic considerations and developments in relation to the conflict in Africa, exploring the ideas of ethnicity and motivation such as greed vs grievance debate. Although the main focus of this book is conflict resolution and democratization, the study of elections as the converging point which serves as the intersection of local actors, international bodies and post-conflict elections constitutes the central thematic underpinning of the book.
 
 


 
 
 The study aims to dispassionately analyze what the future holds for Indo-Pak relations. The two sides have maintained strained relations since their independence from the British Colonial rule in 1947. It appears unlikely that India will change its course of action owing to the US support and resultant dismissiveness towards Pakistan’s peace overtures. The current security situation between India and Pakistan is presumed to be unprecedented because of Prime Minister (PM) Modi’s history of personal involvement in actions against Muslims and Pakistan. Therefore, the improvement in bilateral relations cannot be expected until the time some major compromises are made by the leadership on both sides. The lack of convergence in how each side views its security along with a long history of mistrust, are the root causes of this strained relationship. Although the broader dynamics of the Indo-Pak relationship cannot be analyzed in isolation from the very presence of nuclear weapons in the region; however, the occurrence or non-occurrence of crisis between India and Pakistan is not primarily subject to the presence or absence of nuclear weapons. The actual causes of conflict remain the non-resolution of outstanding disputes. To this end, India lacks a demonstrable and consistent political will to resolve conflicts through a spirit of accommodation, compromise, and reconciliation.
 
 


 
 
 The United Nations (UN) finds itself involved in varied circumstances in present times. This necessitates increased emphasis on evolution of employment doctrine, instructions and training methodology. Drawing on lessons of history has always been considered a wise course of action while preparing for future, and in the same vein, UN Integrated Training Service (UNITS) also opted to tap into past experiences. In order to improve performance as well as to keep their contingents out of harm’s way the member states started to clamor for sharing of lessons learnt from previous missions within the community of peacekeepers, and to learn from an easily accessible repository of best practices which produced the best results. This article aims to analyze the whole process of revamping at UN headquarters level with a view to coming up with workable solutions to make it even better. It argues that pre-induction training institutions have been kept largely out of the loop, while relying entirely on post-induction training. A section on Lessons Learnt and Best Practices is also markedly absent from latest Core Pre-Induction Training Material (CPTM) / Specialized Training Material (STM) issued by UNITS. With lack of prior training and pre-occupation with their primary functions in the mission area, dedicated implementation of the policy at best becomes questionable. The article further identifies that the UNITS has mostly remained limited to available analytical reviews of its past operations which in turn have remained limited in scope to strategic level. Despite identifying this peculiarity, no attempt has been made to constitute special committees to review past mission experiences broken into individual, tactical and operational lessons and best practices. This reflects on the need to carry thorough review of the latest policy, following which the UN would be able to quickly remedy the shortfalls and thus be in a position to take on new challenges in a befitting manner. In this vein, the paper aims to establish and emphasize the potential to learn from the available best practices in terms of UN missions.