Rabia Akhtar
@rabsaa.bsky.social
Visiting Scholar, MTA, Belfer Center, HKS | Dean Social Sciences, University of Lahore, Director CSSPR https://csspr.uol.edu.pk/ PhD Security Studies, KSU | Author, The Blind Eye: US Nonprolif Policy towards 🇵🇰 Free e-book: https://csspr.uol.edu.pk/f2c
Pinned
Rabia Akhtar
@rabsaa.bsky.social
· Jul 21
Remember Your Humanity: Why the Nobel Laureate Declaration Is a Call for Strategic Recalibration
Marking the 80th anniversary of the Trinity test, Nobel Peace Laureates and experts issued a powerful declaration urging urgent global action to reduce nuclear risks amid rising geopolitical instabili...
www.belfercenter.org
The world does not need more deterrence posturing. It needs strategic humility. In this piece for @belfercenter.bsky.social, I reflect on the Nobel Laureate Declaration and its urgent call to recalibrate how we think about nuclear risk.
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
Signaling solidarity is not the same as issuing a blank check of military intervention. Islamabad is not offering Riyadh a covert “nuclear button,” and Riyadh is not signing up to fight in Kashmir. Defense cooperation ≠ automatic war pledge, and signaling ≠ nuclear guarantee.
@rabsaa.bsky.social has released her edited volume, "Strategic Reckoning: Perspectives on Deterrence and Escalation Post-Pahalgam", offering timely insights into the dynamics of deterrence, crisis management, and regional security in South Asia.
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
September 18, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Signaling solidarity is not the same as issuing a blank check of military intervention. Islamabad is not offering Riyadh a covert “nuclear button,” and Riyadh is not signing up to fight in Kashmir. Defense cooperation ≠ automatic war pledge, and signaling ≠ nuclear guarantee.
Reposted by Rabia Akhtar
@rabsaa.bsky.social has released her edited volume, "Strategic Reckoning: Perspectives on Deterrence and Escalation Post-Pahalgam", offering timely insights into the dynamics of deterrence, crisis management, and regional security in South Asia.
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
September 17, 2025 at 1:37 PM
@rabsaa.bsky.social has released her edited volume, "Strategic Reckoning: Perspectives on Deterrence and Escalation Post-Pahalgam", offering timely insights into the dynamics of deterrence, crisis management, and regional security in South Asia.
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
Beyond Nukes. Pakistan’s Army Rocket Force Command aims to hit hard without crossing the nuclear line, cleaner command, better targeting, and a faster kill chain to stress Indian IADS. Why this matters & what to watch next! Here's my initial assessment of ARFC.
pakistanpolitico.com/arfc/
pakistanpolitico.com/arfc/
Pakistan’s Army Rocket Force Command
Rabia Akhtar (Note: This piece offers a preliminary read of the ARFC announcement and its implications, pending further
pakistanpolitico.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Beyond Nukes. Pakistan’s Army Rocket Force Command aims to hit hard without crossing the nuclear line, cleaner command, better targeting, and a faster kill chain to stress Indian IADS. Why this matters & what to watch next! Here's my initial assessment of ARFC.
pakistanpolitico.com/arfc/
pakistanpolitico.com/arfc/
Like seriously! Who’s with me?
August 10, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Like seriously! Who’s with me?
Beyond the Brink: Game Theory and the Future of Indo-Pak Security in the Age of Stealth
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Beyond the Brink: Game Theory and the Future of Indo-Pak Security in the Age of Stealth
Applying game theory to understand the precarious balance of power in South Asia’s emerging stealth competition.
open.substack.com
July 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Beyond the Brink: Game Theory and the Future of Indo-Pak Security in the Age of Stealth
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Third Nuclear Age is already here. May 2025 showed how non-nuclear tech, politics, and misperception can unravel deterrence. @nktpnd.bsky.social breaks it down with Ejaz Haider.
youtu.be/il_GY3h34Ec?...
youtu.be/il_GY3h34Ec?...
InFocus With Ejaz Haider EP71: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age
YouTube video by CSSPR
youtu.be
July 26, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Third Nuclear Age is already here. May 2025 showed how non-nuclear tech, politics, and misperception can unravel deterrence. @nktpnd.bsky.social breaks it down with Ejaz Haider.
youtu.be/il_GY3h34Ec?...
youtu.be/il_GY3h34Ec?...
To all my PhD students!
July 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
To all my PhD students!
From Escalation to Explanation: The Fight for the Last Word
substack.com/profile/3030...
substack.com/profile/3030...
Rabia Akhtar (@rabiaakhtar1)
From Escalation to Explanation: The Fight for the Last Word
https://open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/p/who-owns-the-story-the-real-battle?r=i1g3g&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=fals...
substack.com
July 23, 2025 at 2:55 AM
From Escalation to Explanation: The Fight for the Last Word
substack.com/profile/3030...
substack.com/profile/3030...
We are not just witnessing a decline in the humanities, we are watching a civilizational shift toward control, fragmentation, and forgetting. What happens when a society stops teaching meaning? McGilchrist offers a warning we can’t ignore.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
The Collapse of Attention: Losing the Right Mind
Mapping the Fall of the Reflective Mind
open.substack.com
July 21, 2025 at 6:59 PM
We are not just witnessing a decline in the humanities, we are watching a civilizational shift toward control, fragmentation, and forgetting. What happens when a society stops teaching meaning? McGilchrist offers a warning we can’t ignore.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
The world does not need more deterrence posturing. It needs strategic humility. In this piece for @belfercenter.bsky.social, I reflect on the Nobel Laureate Declaration and its urgent call to recalibrate how we think about nuclear risk.
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
Remember Your Humanity: Why the Nobel Laureate Declaration Is a Call for Strategic Recalibration
Marking the 80th anniversary of the Trinity test, Nobel Peace Laureates and experts issued a powerful declaration urging urgent global action to reduce nuclear risks amid rising geopolitical instabili...
www.belfercenter.org
July 21, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The world does not need more deterrence posturing. It needs strategic humility. In this piece for @belfercenter.bsky.social, I reflect on the Nobel Laureate Declaration and its urgent call to recalibrate how we think about nuclear risk.
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
Pakistan’s resistance to the FMCT is not a diplomatic anomaly. It is a calculated stance shaped by asymmetry, strategic parity concerns, and treaty design flaws. I unpack the strategic logic behind Pakistan’s position. open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
In Search of Equity: Understanding Pakistan’s Conditions for the FMCT
Strategic Fracture in the Global Nuclear Order: Why the FMCT Fails to Convince Pakistan
open.substack.com
July 21, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Pakistan’s resistance to the FMCT is not a diplomatic anomaly. It is a calculated stance shaped by asymmetry, strategic parity concerns, and treaty design flaws. I unpack the strategic logic behind Pakistan’s position. open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Just launched: Elusive Stability by @alizia1992.bsky.social. If you care about where South Asian nuclear and strategic debates are headed, this Substack will shape how we think about tomorrow’s crises today.
I am happy to launch my Substack, Elusive Stability. Subscribe, engage, and take the debate forward.
open.substack.com/pub/alizia1992…
open.substack.com/pub/alizia1992…
July 21, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Just launched: Elusive Stability by @alizia1992.bsky.social. If you care about where South Asian nuclear and strategic debates are headed, this Substack will shape how we think about tomorrow’s crises today.
Reposted by Rabia Akhtar
I am happy to launch my Substack, Elusive Stability. Subscribe, engage, and take the debate forward.
open.substack.com/pub/alizia1992…
open.substack.com/pub/alizia1992…
July 20, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I am happy to launch my Substack, Elusive Stability. Subscribe, engage, and take the debate forward.
open.substack.com/pub/alizia1992…
open.substack.com/pub/alizia1992…
Reposted by Rabia Akhtar
Actually after trying to do a very simple operation to merge data from two GeoTIFF files I now understand why Oppenheimer is involved with this. It is a cautionary tale...!!!
I was looking for a decent GeoTIFF viewer and suddenly there's a random photo of J. Robert Oppenheimer on my screen. What does J. Robert Oppenheimer have to do with GIS mapping? I am become GeoTIFF, destroyer of worlds? IDK. Very strange.
July 20, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Actually after trying to do a very simple operation to merge data from two GeoTIFF files I now understand why Oppenheimer is involved with this. It is a cautionary tale...!!!
“We are eternal vibrations, not accidents of matter.” Tesla’s message transcends time. A call to awaken, resonate, and return to the source. Love is the highest frequency. A reminder that the universe may be less mechanical and far more conscious than we imagine.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Tesla, Vibration, and the Echo of the Universe
What if consciousness did not emerge from us, but flowed through us?
open.substack.com
July 21, 2025 at 1:52 AM
“We are eternal vibrations, not accidents of matter.” Tesla’s message transcends time. A call to awaken, resonate, and return to the source. Love is the highest frequency. A reminder that the universe may be less mechanical and far more conscious than we imagine.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
India’s new Agni-V "bunker-buster" is no ordinary missile. It's a conventional warhead meant to strike deeply buried nuclear sites. But the strategy behind it is deeply flawed. My new piece in Dawn explains why.
www.dawn.com/news/1925251...
www.dawn.com/news/1925251...
THE PROBLEM WITH INDIA’S NEW MISSILE GAMBIT
India’s reported pursuit of a missile able to carry a ‘bunker-buster’ like the US’ Massive Ordnance Penetrator presents a perilous
www.dawn.com
July 20, 2025 at 1:49 AM
India’s new Agni-V "bunker-buster" is no ordinary missile. It's a conventional warhead meant to strike deeply buried nuclear sites. But the strategy behind it is deeply flawed. My new piece in Dawn explains why.
www.dawn.com/news/1925251...
www.dawn.com/news/1925251...
“Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.”
Guided by these words, we signed the Nobel Laureate Assembly Declaration in Chicago to stop the drift toward nuclear war. Clear steps. Shared responsibility. Urgent action.
thebulletin.org/2025/07/the-...
Guided by these words, we signed the Nobel Laureate Assembly Declaration in Chicago to stop the drift toward nuclear war. Clear steps. Shared responsibility. Urgent action.
thebulletin.org/2025/07/the-...
The Nobel Laureate Assembly Declaration for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Tremendous progress has been made in reducing global nuclear stockpiles and nuclear risks, but we are now heading in the wrong direction. Poised at the beginning of a new, complex, and dangerous nucle...
thebulletin.org
July 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
“Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.”
Guided by these words, we signed the Nobel Laureate Assembly Declaration in Chicago to stop the drift toward nuclear war. Clear steps. Shared responsibility. Urgent action.
thebulletin.org/2025/07/the-...
Guided by these words, we signed the Nobel Laureate Assembly Declaration in Chicago to stop the drift toward nuclear war. Clear steps. Shared responsibility. Urgent action.
thebulletin.org/2025/07/the-...
Reposted by Rabia Akhtar
🗨️"Pleasing #Trump isn’t #Putin's priority. Putin has no reason to stop."
👉 @belfercenter.bsky.social‘s @mbudjeryn.bsky.social
➡️Full show: f24.my/BJVm.x
@en.france24.com #Trump #Ukraine
👉 @belfercenter.bsky.social‘s @mbudjeryn.bsky.social
➡️Full show: f24.my/BJVm.x
@en.france24.com #Trump #Ukraine
July 14, 2025 at 6:39 PM
🗨️"Pleasing #Trump isn’t #Putin's priority. Putin has no reason to stop."
👉 @belfercenter.bsky.social‘s @mbudjeryn.bsky.social
➡️Full show: f24.my/BJVm.x
@en.france24.com #Trump #Ukraine
👉 @belfercenter.bsky.social‘s @mbudjeryn.bsky.social
➡️Full show: f24.my/BJVm.x
@en.france24.com #Trump #Ukraine
Reposted by Rabia Akhtar
In an article published in Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Tabaar argues "Israel’s June 13 assault on Iran, designed to decapitate Tehran’s military and nuclear program, is one of the worst setbacks the Islamic Republic has ever experienced."
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/islam...
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/islam...
The Islamic Republic’s New Lease on Life
How the U.S.-Israeli strikes empowered the Iranian regime.
www.foreignaffairs.com
July 15, 2025 at 2:04 PM
In an article published in Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Tabaar argues "Israel’s June 13 assault on Iran, designed to decapitate Tehran’s military and nuclear program, is one of the worst setbacks the Islamic Republic has ever experienced."
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/islam...
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/islam...
Rethinking Strategic Depth in the Age of AI: Lessons from May 2025
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Rethinking Strategic Depth in the Age of AI: Lessons from May 2025
In the aftermath of the May 2025 Indo-Pakistan crisis, a 4-day high-intensity, multidomain conflict, the traditional notion of strategic depth demands rethinking.
open.substack.com
July 12, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Rethinking Strategic Depth in the Age of AI: Lessons from May 2025
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Is India rewriting the logic of nuclear deterrence in South Asia? Yes and it is doing so openly, deliberately, and dangerously.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
July 11, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Is India rewriting the logic of nuclear deterrence in South Asia? Yes and it is doing so openly, deliberately, and dangerously.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Reposted by Rabia Akhtar
Disappointed to see this from Chatham House: removing source data from chart, referencing secondary sources, using outdated nuke data when updated is available, misrepresenting “nuclear arsenal” data. 🤷🏼♂️
Her is link to primary data source: fas.org/initiative/s...
Her is link to primary data source: fas.org/initiative/s...
July 11, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Disappointed to see this from Chatham House: removing source data from chart, referencing secondary sources, using outdated nuke data when updated is available, misrepresenting “nuclear arsenal” data. 🤷🏼♂️
Her is link to primary data source: fas.org/initiative/s...
Her is link to primary data source: fas.org/initiative/s...
The new e-book on Operation Sindoor is not just a post-crisis account, it is India’s blueprint for normalising pre-emptive force against Pakistan. My latest analysis examines why this strategic shift should alarm anyone concerned with nuclear stability in South Asia open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
India’s Strategic Revisionism: How India Is Legitimising Pre-emptive Force
Reading 'Operation Sindoor' as India’s Most Dangerous Shift in Strategic Thinking Yet
open.substack.com
July 11, 2025 at 2:49 AM
The new e-book on Operation Sindoor is not just a post-crisis account, it is India’s blueprint for normalising pre-emptive force against Pakistan. My latest analysis examines why this strategic shift should alarm anyone concerned with nuclear stability in South Asia open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
What if Huntington’s clash never truly happened and Fukuyama’s end never arrived? 25 years later, we revisit the thinkers who tried to define the world. Some got it right. Most missed the tremors. Check out my mew post on rereading globalization in 2025.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Huntington, Fukuyama, and the Futures They Couldn't See
There are books that predict the future.
open.substack.com
July 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
What if Huntington’s clash never truly happened and Fukuyama’s end never arrived? 25 years later, we revisit the thinkers who tried to define the world. Some got it right. Most missed the tremors. Check out my mew post on rereading globalization in 2025.
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
Embed EDTs into Crisis Simulations
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
July 8, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Embed EDTs into Crisis Simulations
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...
open.substack.com/pub/rakhtar/...