Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58891613
Summary: In pakistan tribal districts, families are being ripped apart by murder and violence. IS-K is murdering people who they consider to potentially be “informants” for the Pakistan military. In the past year, there has been an extreme surge in violence and killing, as terrorist groups like the TTP (the “ideological twin” of the Taliban) are threatening and killing civilians in order to enact their extremist interpretations of Sharia. Businessmen are receiving calls of threat, demanding money and claiming to be part of the Taliban. Many people in Pakistan are faced with safety concerns, forced into fleeing to other countries to escape their demise at the hands of several terrorist groups, including the TTP, IS-K, and the Afghan Taliban. The Pakistan government continues to be complacent and provide little to no help to violence victims, while they quietly supporting both Pakistani and Afghan Taliban groups.
Analysis: This is a humanitarian crisis. There are children being stripped from their parents and families torn apart by violence. Immediate action needs to be taken in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many countries do not want to involve themselves out of fear of interfering in the countries sovereignty, but I believe that those ideals need to be set aside when a human rights issue is involved and people are facing death and demise. The large world powers should be putting forces back in Afghanistan and Pakistan and protecting civilians in any way they can. They should also be providing all means of transport for refugees coming from these countries and offering shelter and housing in a safe place. There should be a global, cooperative effort to establish order and peace in Central Asia.
How does this relate to IR: This provides a lot of discussion about sovereignty of nations, and when it is appropriate to intervene even if it affects sovereignty. I think this relates to a lot of the core principles of International relations like the collective goods problem, and how a group can go about serving it’s collective interests even when it means sacrificing individual interests. Coming up with a solution to a situation like this requires a lot of consideration in many areas of IR including security, development and law.