International Journal of Policy Studies

THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND FUTURE OF ASIA

Walija Mumtaz — 2026-06-30

Asia is the largest geographical economy in the world, and its importance will grow as its economic levels of trade, innovation, cultural interaction, and population movement rise. The next phase of globalization will be driven and shaped by Asia in what has been aptly named the Asian Century. Policymakers need to be ready to succeed in the Asian Century despite the hazards and challenges that Asia is currently experiencing. To be relevant in Asia, they must address environmental issues, bridge skill gaps, and improve institutional capabilities. They also need to reevaluate the Asian operating model and begin constructing a better framework for intraregional cooperation, such as a successful dispute resolution system and increased facilitation of non-trade flows. Through the prism of the 21st century, this study tries to analyze the age of Asia's emergence while taking into account its causes, its consequences on world order, and the problems that this entails for Asia, in addition to other international actors.

INSTITUTIONAL DECAY AND DEMOCRATIC EROSION IN A DELEGATIVE DEMOCRACY

Kiran Saeed — 2026-06-30

The research investigates Pakistan's institutional collapse and democratic breakdown through Guillermo O’Donnell's (1994) delegative democracy theory during 2018-2025. The Imran Khan administration which ruled from 2018 to 2022 followed by the PDM coalition that governed from 2022 to 2023 and the difficult period following the 2024 election represent a critical juncture for Pakistan's democratic progress. The research shows that political instability developed through a feedback system which started with institutional failure which caused democratic breakdown which then destroyed institutional trust from the public. The research employs qualitative document analysis together with critical discourse analysis to demonstrate how three vital democratic institutions lost their authority which resulted in Pakistan's democratic system depending on delegation instead of citizen involvement. The research determines Pakistan's position through its analysis of hybrid regimes according to Adeney (2017) and judicial dual-survivalism theory from Abbas & Patro (2024). The research indicates that democratic backsliding requires more than electoral modifications because it needs a full transformation of military-civilian relations and institutional protection systems and increased citizen participation in political activities.

ALGORITHMIC AMPLIFICATION OF GENDERED CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Sadia Rafiue — 2026-05-30

The present paper discusses the multifaceted and two-way relationship between social media platforms and the reconfiguration of gender norms in modern society. It builds on the theory of gendered performativity presented by Butler and Foucaultian analytics of disciplinary power, and critical platform studies to assert that social media both deconstructs the gender binary and produces novel and commodified modes of normative femininity and masculinity. This paper is an analysis of Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X and YouTube as the locations of gendered self-representation, community organizing and political struggle. It takes into account future opportunities of queer and feminist online communities and reactionary gender politics of the manosphere and algorithmic prioritization of gender-normative media. Social media is not a place of gender liberation or even blatant patriarchal reinscription, but a battlefield upon which contrary gender projects are played out, negotiated and monetised.

HOUSEHOLD-LEVEL TARGETING UNDER WATER RATIONING POLICY

Suhana GREWAL — 2026-06-30

Uniform water rationing remains a dominant policy response to groundwater scarcity in Punjab’s agricultural sector. While administratively simple, such policies overlook substantial heterogeneity in farm structure, crop choice, and realized productivity across households, leading to misallocation and avoidable output losses. This paper develops a household-level matching framework that ranks agricultural households for priority access to irrigation under rationing regimes using a small set of observable characteristics. Drawing on microdata from the 77th Round of the Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households (2019), restricted to Punjab, the study constructs a composite heterogeneity score combining realized crop output, cropping intensity, and land fragmentation. Households are classified into priority tiers that can be directly mapped onto differentiated rationing rules, such as variations in pumping hours. Rather than offering causal identification, the framework provides a transparent, low-cost screening tool that can improve allocative efficiency without increasing total water extraction. The approach highlights how modest reallocation within existing rationing regimes can recover productivity gains while preserving equity objectives.

CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND DIPLOMACY:

Sarwat Rauf — 2026-06-30

This study examines Pakistan's bilateral relations with India and the US after Phase II of CPEC; it further studies the transformation in relations that transpired after the India-Pakistan military confrontation in May 2025. Based on a neorealist theoretical framework, the paper maintains that CPEC at first deepened Pakistan's partnership with China while concurrently intensifying India's anger and cooling Washington's engagement with Islamabad. The military operations of May 2025, namely India's Operation Sindoor and Pakistan's counter-offensive Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos, upturned suppositions about the conventional military balance in South Asia. These military events set in motion a chain of diplomatic outcomes that no state had predicted. Within the period of twelve months after the ceasefire, Islamabad hosted the first direct Washington-Tehran engagement in over forty years and also procured a partnership with the US. These developments are an indication that CPEC, while restricting independent action in some respects, also presented the strategic foundation from which Pakistan set up a credible deterrent in May 2025 and successively re-positioned itself as a diplomatic middle power of the region. India's response to this repositioning, evidenced by its rejection of US mediation claims and the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, reflects New Delhi’s unease with an emerging regional order it did not design.

ISLAMIC SOCIAL FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

Nazia Abdul Rehman — 2026-06-30

Islamic Finance is one of the most growing industry all over the globe. However, Islamic Micro Finance is still in its infancy stage where it requires believe and trust from diverse range of stakeholders. Research work is also very limited related with the strategies and operations of Islamic Micro Finance Institutions (IMFIs). Especially there is severe lacking of case study research that may highlight the working of IMFI and showcase its strengths, strategies and operations in order to improve understanding of diverse range of stakeholders. Hence, this study is one of the attempt to develop a case study on one of the emerging IMFIs from Karachi Known as Tooba Foundation. The reason for the selection of Tooba Foundation is its unique use of Islamic Financial tools in order to improve Islamic Social Finance Strategies. Hence, this study may not only found fruitful for further research but will also improve understanding and policy making related with Islamic Financial Tools and strategies of Islamic Social Finance.

Russia–China Relations in the Post-Cold War Era

Kinza Faisal — 2026-06-30

In the post-Cold War era, Sino-Russian relations have evolved significantly, marked by a strategic partnership and increasing cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Their bilateral relationship has undergone a significant transformation from the Cold War to the post-Cold War era. Both countries view the United States as a strategic rival. By working together, they effectively challenge U.S. dominance in global affairs and promote a multi polar world order. Russia's vast energy resources and China's growing energy needs create a complementary relationship that reduces their dependence on U.S. energy markets. The bilateral relationship of Russia and China is also strengthened by their participation in SCO as it enhances. The SCO provides a platform for broader regional cooperation, bringing together multiple countries and fostering a more integrated approach to common challenges and opportunities. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization helps improve Sino-Russian relations and facilitate economic cooperation and trade agreements. The organization has become a cornerstone of their joint efforts to address security threats and enhance economic ties in Central Asia. This paper utilizes secondary data to explore the relationship between Russia and China, as well as their collaboration within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). It investigates how the new multilateral institution has assisted in carrying out cooperative policies between the two countries. This institution involves key stakeholders, making each country's policies toward the other more consistent, foreseeable, and informed.