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<title>Counterpoint &#45; Shafqat Aziz</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/rss/author/shafqat-aziz</link>
<description>Counterpoint &#45; Shafqat Aziz</description>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Copyright 2025 counterpoint&#45; All Rights Reserved.</dc:rights>

<item>
<title>Why the Taliban&amp;apos;s Iron Grip is Slowly Cracking</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Taliban-Iron-Grip</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Taliban-Iron-Grip</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A regime fighting a two-front war against Pakistan and internal insurgents, unable to feed its own base, splitting at the leadership level, and now facing a resistance movement finally capable of operating on its own home turf. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:08:29 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Taliban, Afghanistan</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>No, the Mecca Pact is not Muslim NATO</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/The-Mecca-Pact-is-Not-the-Muslim-NATO-Alliance-the-World-Thinks-it-is</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/The-Mecca-Pact-is-Not-the-Muslim-NATO-Alliance-the-World-Thinks-it-is</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Mecca Agreement will be remembered less as a wartime alliance against a weakened Iran and more as the founding document of a new, durable axis within the Muslim world, one whose rivalries with Israel, the UAE and India will define regional politics for a generation. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:16:50 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Middle East, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, NATO</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Balochistan and the Ghost of Pakistan’s 1971</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Balochistan-and-the-Ghost-of-Pakistan%E2%80%99s-1971</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Balochistan-and-the-Ghost-of-Pakistan%E2%80%99s-1971</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Its economy survives on IMF support with reserves near depletion. Its own defence minister accuses India of funding the insurgency, an allegation India denies. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:16:26 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Balochistan, international law</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>When Two Wars Collide</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/When-Two-Wars-Collide%3A-What-Ukraine%E2%80%99s-Caspian-Sea-Strikes-on-Iranian-ships-tell-us-about-the-New-Global-Disorder</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/When-Two-Wars-Collide%3A-What-Ukraine%E2%80%99s-Caspian-Sea-Strikes-on-Iranian-ships-tell-us-about-the-New-Global-Disorder</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ None of this is really new, only newly visible. The Caspian has functioned as a sealed smuggling corridor between Moscow and Tehran since the summer of 2022. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:50:30 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Ukraine, Caspian Sea</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Hormuz is Unfixable Now</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Hormuz-is-Unfixable-Now</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Hormuz-is-Unfixable-Now</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The latest ceasefire between the United States and Iran has failed to restore confidence in the Strait of Hormuz, exposing the world&#039;s continued dependence on a chokepoint that remains vulnerable to disruption. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:35:36 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Hormuz, Oil, Iran, Strait of Hormuz</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Assessing Trump&amp;apos;s Iran Deal</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Assessing-Trumps-Iran-Deal</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Assessing-Trumps-Iran-Deal</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A war fought in part to eliminate Iranian leverage ended with Iran holding more of it, over Hormuz, over Lebanon, and over the sanctions regime, than it had before the first missile was fired. Whether that trade was worth it depends on whether the next 60 days produce a durable peace or simply a longer, costlier version of the same unresolved fight. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 16:38:01 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>uranium stockpile, Hormuz</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Ukraine&amp;apos;s Masterstroke and Russia&amp;apos;s Crumbling Air Defence</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/ukraines-masterstroke-and-russias-crumbling-air-defence</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/ukraines-masterstroke-and-russias-crumbling-air-defence</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ What Ukraine has executed is not merely a military operation. It is a masterclass in the psychological and strategic manipulation of an adversary whose leadership places symbolism above military reality. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:34:22 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Russia-Ukraine War, Air defence</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Promised Work, Deployed to War</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/promised-work-deployed-to-war</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/promised-work-deployed-to-war</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ An unknown number of Bangladeshi young men whose families parted with savings of 10 lakh taka or more for the prospect of a better life for them, find themselves on a distant frontline in a war they never chose, in a country whose language they cannot speak, and fighting for a side they were never asked to join. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2026 15:11:29 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Ukraine war, Bangladeshi workers</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>No One Wins in the Myanmar Civil War</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/no-one-wins</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/no-one-wins</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The tragedy in Myanmar will not stop, the junta rules a hollow state, the rebels hold territory but don’t have a future vision moving forward. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:39:52 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Myanmar, China</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Professional Fiduciary Duty in the Age of AI</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/professional-fiduciary-duty-in-the-age-of-ai</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/professional-fiduciary-duty-in-the-age-of-ai</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The client eyes you across the desk, not the screen. Efficiency kneels to trust; betray it, and no algorithm absolves. Guard that human bond fiercely: Our future depends on it. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 13:34:46 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>AI, Professionalism, Efficiency</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A Tangled Mess of Governance Failures</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/a-tangled-mess-of-governance-failures-bangladesh-banking-sector-saga</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/a-tangled-mess-of-governance-failures-bangladesh-banking-sector-saga</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Bangladesh cannot sustain its growth economically if our banking system remains feeble and compromised. The solutions are well known: Independence, accountability, transparency, good compliance, governance, and professionalism. What’s missing is the willpower to enforce them. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 11:57:47 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bangladesh Banking Sector, Governance Failures</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A Rational Break, Not a Rebellion</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/A-Rational-Break%2C-not-a-rebellion</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/A-Rational-Break%2C-not-a-rebellion</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Leaving OPEC was a symbolic declaration to the Gulf that Abu Dhabi can no longer stay a passenger in the oil vehicle supplying the world. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2026 12:55:27 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>UAE, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, Donald Trump, IDF, Iron Dome, Strait Of Hormuz</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>The War Against Iran May Have No Exit</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/The-War-Against-Iran-May-Have-No-Exit</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/The-War-Against-Iran-May-Have-No-Exit</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Will Iran become another forever war for the USA? ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:00:42 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shafqat Aziz</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Iran War, Strait of Hormuz, US-Israel</media:keywords>
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