Pakistan: Statecraft and Geopolitics in Today’s World

Before 1500 CE

Much of human history is marked by war.

War of 1812

The first war fought by the independent United States against Britain.

1823 - Monroe Doctrine

President James Monroe articulated the Monroe Doctrine, separating European and American spheres of influence.

19th Century

China's 'Century of Humiliation' began with 'Unequal Treaties' after the First Opium War.

1911 - Arab Spring

The beginning of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Syria.

1914

The First World War began.

November 11, 1918

Centenary of the end of the First World War.

1920

Rise of nationalism and collapse of global cooperation.

1925

RSS organization was founded in India.

1929

The Great Depression.

1932

Oswald Mosley founded the British Union of Fascists.

1939

World War II began.

1944

The Bretton Woods Conference designed the international monetary system.

1945

After World War II, a long period of peace led by the United States began, with battlefield deaths reaching their lowest levels.

1945

The period of 'Glorious Changes' in Europe began, marked by strong economic growth and the expansion of welfare states.

1947

Partition of the Indian subcontinent into two independent countries, India and Pakistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the Governor-General of Pakistan, and Lord Mountbatten became the first Governor-General of India. The beginning of the migration of millions of Muslim refugees from India to Pakistan (about 8 million) and Sikhs from Pakistan to India (about 6 million).

Late 1947

Autonomy granted to Kashmir to India by the Hindu Raja.

December 31, 1947

Official ceasefire declared in Kashmir and the Line of Control (LOC) was established.

1948

The first Indo-Pakistani war over Kashmir.

1956

Sudan's independence.

October 1958

General Ayub Khan imposed martial law in Pakistan.

1958

1969: Field Marshal Ayub Khan's rule in Pakistan.

1960

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan, mediated by the World Bank.

1961

Qatar joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

1962

The Sino-Indian War.

1965

The second India-Pakistan war over Kashmir.

1967

Israel occupied the West Bank.

1970

Large-scale migration to New Zealand began with families arriving from Pacific Islands.

1971

Bangladesh gained independence after a bloody civil war and Indian intervention.

1972

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was established.

1973

The United States War Powers Act was enacted after the Vietnam War.

Mid-1970s

The rise of extremism in the Islamic world with the increase in wealth of Middle Eastern oil-exporting countries.

1976

Death of Mao Zedong and the beginning of Deng Xiaoping's era in China.

1977

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in the United States.

1978

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1979

The Islamic Revolution in Iran.

September 1980

Iraq invades Iran.

1981

China joins the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

1982

The Khalistan movement for an independent Sikh state in India.

April 23, 1983

A senior Punjabi official was killed in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

June 1984

Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Indian Army.

1984 - Indira Gandhi Assassination

Indira Gandhi was assassinated.

1989 - Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan

The Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan.

1989 - Omar al-Bashir's Rise to Power

Omar al-Bashir came to power in Sudan.

1989 - Tiananmen Square Protests

Protests occurred in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China.

1989 - Martial Law and Tiananmen Crackdown

Martial law was declared and the Tiananmen protests were suppressed.

June 1989

Death of Ayatollah Khomeini and succession by Ayatollah Khamenei.

1991

Collapse of the Soviet Union, end of the Cold War, and the start of global neoliberalism.

1992

Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro; Maastricht Treaty of the European Union.

1993

Development of web browsers and the expansion of home computer ownership.

1994

World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in Morocco.

1995

Completion of the global trade system with the establishment of the World Trade Organization.

1996

The Taliban captured Kabul and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. U.S. Telecommunications Act.

1997

Crown Prince Abdullah's visit to Islamabad; East Asian financial crisis with the devaluation of the Thai baht.

1998

India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests.

February 1999

Proposal of the Kartarpur Corridor by Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

May 1999

Kargil War between India and Pakistan.

2000 CE

The rise and fall of the dot-com bubble.

2001 CE

September 11: Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in the United States.

December 2001

US invasion of Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban.

2002 CE

Masood Azhar ordered the beheading of Daniel Pearl.

2003

SARS outbreak in Asia; US invasion of Iraq.

2004

First TTP protests in Pakistan's tribal areas; BJP victory in Indian elections.

2005

Baitullah Mehsud became the leader of TTP.

2006

Keith Ellison elected as the first Muslim to the US Congress.

2007

Qatar became the largest exporter of LNG. The global financial crisis began.

November 2008

Mumbai terrorist attacks.

December 2008

Terrorist attacks on Mumbai hotels.

August 2009

Baitullah Mehsud killed in a drone strike.

2010

Increased tensions between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

January 4, 2011

Assassination of Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab.

2011

Emergence of youth movements in Sudan.

2012

MERS virus appeared in Jordan.

March 2013

Xi Jinping became the President of China.

2014

Xi Jinping's visit to Xinjiang followed by a terrorist attack in Urumqi. BJP's victory in India's general elections with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. Collapse of the transitional government in Libya.

2015

Iran signed the nuclear deal (JCPOA) with the United States and other powers. Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) was established.

August 2015

Khadim Hussain Rizvi founded TLP.

2016

Extreme heat in Karachi, Pakistan, led to over 1200 deaths. Brexit referendum in the UK. Donald Trump became the President of the United States.

2016 - Paris Climate Agreement Signed

The Paris Climate Agreement was signed by 157 countries.

2016 - Execution of Mumtaz Qadri

Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Salman Taseer, was executed.

2017 - Donald Trump Takes Office

Donald Trump came to power with the slogan 'America First'.

2017 - Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad in Pakistan

Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad was launched in Pakistan.

2017 - Qatar Diplomatic Crisis

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar.

June 29, 2017

A Hindu group lynched a Muslim villager on suspicion of cow meat smuggling.

2018

China registered the most blockchain patents.

February 2018

Xi Jinping became China's president for life.

March 2018

China signed an agreement with Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa to develop blockchain.

May 2018

The U.S. Pacific Command was renamed to the Indo-Pacific Command.

August 2018

Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

August 2018

Pompeo's visit to Pakistan.

August 21, 2018

Imran Khan invited India for talks.

September 2018

Failed assassination in Ahvaz, Iran.

September 2018

Xi Jinping attended the G20 summit in Buenos Aires.

October 2018

Trump withdraws from the Iran nuclear deal.

October 2018

Jamal Khashoggi murdered in Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

October 2018

Increased data restrictions in India.

December 2018

BJP loses ground in Indian state elections.

December 2018

TLP delegation meets with ISI chief.

November 30 to December 1, 2018

G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

December 2018

Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and a reduction of military presence in Afghanistan.

December 21, 2018

First freight train on the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad route.

February 2019

Visit of Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, to China and Pakistan.

February 2019

A suicide attack in Pulwama, Kashmir, resulted in the death of 40 Indian soldiers.

February 2019

Border clashes between India and Pakistan.

February 2019

Middle East conference held in Warsaw, Poland, hosted by the United States.

February 2019

FATF warned Pakistan about terrorist financing.

March 2019

Attack by a far-right extremist group on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

March 2019

Xi Jinping's visit to Italy.

March 2019

General Khalifa Haftar's attack on Tripoli, Libya.

March 31, 2019

Local elections in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey, with Erdogan's AKP party defeated.

April 2019

Drone attack on Aramco oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

April 2019

The War Powers Act of 1973 was invoked by the U.S. Congress.

May 2019

BLA insurgents attacked the Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar, Pakistan.

May 10, 2019

US tariffs on Chinese imports increased.

May 19, 2019

General elections in India.

June 2019

Xi Jinping visited Russia.

June 2019

US-China trade war intensified.

June 13, 2019

Attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

June 15, 2020

Clash between Chinese and Indian forces in Ladakh.

December 2019

Identification of COVID-19 virus in Wuhan, China.

February 2020

Signing of the Taliban-U.S. peace agreement in Doha.

March 2020

COVID-19 pandemic became global.

June 2020

Verkhoyansk, Siberia, recorded a temperature of 38°C.

Mid-June 2020

Pakistan ranked among the top ten countries by reported infections according to the World Health Organization.

July 2020

Trump admitted he was wrong about withdrawing American troops from Syria and Afghanistan.

August 14, 2020

The United Arab Emirates and Israel signed the Abraham Accords.

November 2020

Joe Biden won the United States presidential election.

January 2021

Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol.

February 2021

Iran and China agreement.

April 2021

Joe Biden announced the timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

August 2021

Taliban captured Kabul. U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

August 2021

Floods in Pakistan.

November 2021

TLP protests in Pakistan.

January 2022

Protests in Kazakhstan.

21 February 2022

Putin recognized two separatist regions in Ukraine.

23 February 2022

Imran Khan's official visit to Russia, coinciding with Russia's attack on Ukraine.