PAKISTAN is currently in the global spotlight for mediating between the United States and Iran. Islamabad’s rigorous mediation efforts helped bring about a much-needed ceasefire between the US and Iran in April, which culminated in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in June 2026. Analysts see the current mediatory position as a new shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy priorities, with Islamabad attempting to assert itself as a middle power and a relevant strategic player in Middle Eastern geopolitics. However, a comprehensive historical analysis reveals that mediation has remained one of Pakistan’s most essential foreign policy imperatives. Pakistan has long adopted an active strategy of mediation to prevent, manage, and settle disputes in the Middle East and within its immediate western neighbourhood. Far from being a passive regional actor, Islamabad has often positioned itself as a mediator in conflicts ranging from great-power rivalries to intra-...
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage regained his parliamentary seat on Friday in an election he triggered to bolster his position against allegations of financial impropriety, a strategy that was undermined when his main challenger, a comedian dressed as a trash can, won more than a quarter of the vote. Farage, one of Britain’s leading Brexit campaigners, in a highly unusual move did not turn up at the count in the southern English seaside resort of Clacton because he said the police had advised him that there was a campaign to disrupt the result. “I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory … and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies,” Farage told supporters at a party before the result was announced. The election was triggered after Farage resigned from parliament last month to seek a fresh mandate from voters in what he described as a war against an establishment bent on discrediting him over taking und...