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The article reflects the discourses surrounding the military use of drones in the context of their employment in Afghanistan and Waziristan in the last two decades with a special emphasis on its necropolitical dimensions. It does so by first summarizing different critical accounts of a single well documented case in Afghanistan, underscoring historical continuities between drone warfare, state terror and air power. Second, the article puts a special emphasis on relations on the ground such as ambiguous legal constructions enabling the use of lethal force, and the weaponization of Pashtun culture for the purposes of different governments.

The United States occupies a unique position amongst countries around the world when it comes to gun rights. While the United States is one of three countries that provides its people the constitutional right to bear arms, it is the only country that has more guns per capita than residents. Further, because of the saturation of guns in the United States, the country significantly leads in the amount of gun-related homicides than any other developed nation. Nevertheless, state legislatures have circumscribed gun rights within the bounds of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution to curb gun violence. This note weighs California and Mississippi's gun control laws against rates of gun violence in the respective states. Using critical race theory, the paper concludes that while there is a direct correlation between stricter gun control laws and lower gun violence, gun violence disproportionately affects Black Americans. These findings are grounded in social, historical, political, and constitutional analyses

The Taliban, backed by Pakistan, emerged in Afghanistan in 1994, announcing their establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Initially appearing as the saviour of Afghanistan, they disappointed Afghans by introducing an unprecedented version and understanding of Islam. They restricted women's movement in the public, banning their education and work outside the home. Charged with harbouring Al Qaeda's leader, the Taliban regime was overthrown by the US in October 2001; they rose again and began their insurgent attacks against the foreign forces and the government after 2003. Their position towards women's education and work outside of the home has been fraught with ups and downs since then. Initially, in 2006, the Taliban instructed their fighters to attack any government-run schools, particularly girls' schools; Around 2010-2012, their position softened, allowing girls to attend schools and women to work as teachers and doctors. However, this purported modification was accompanied by hard-to-meet precepts that have continued to deprive women of education and work outside the home. Many studies postulate that the Taliban's position has altered regarding women's education and work outside the home, however, Taliban fighters' behaviour on the battleground and their leadership's actions in the peace talks say otherwise. The change in the Taliban's policy appears nominal, deceptive, and tactical, only there to attract the attention of national and international media and foster popular support for a return to power. Using secondary data, this article explores the Taliban's position regarding women's rights to education and employment, to determine if, how, why, and to what extent the Taliban's position has changed in this regard and examine the prospect of women's rights in Afghanistan if the current peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government bear results. Based on the findings, some recommendations are suggested to ensure women's voices are heard and that the probable peace-agreement is gender-responsive.

This article aims to study the estrangement between Pakistan and Armenia in light of the issue of Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh. Most Pakistanis are not aware of the fact that Pakistan does not recognize Armenia nor have any official diplomatic relations with her due to Pakistan's principle stance over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Armenia occupied more than 20 percent internationally recognized Azeri territory during the 1992 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Pakistan has brotherly and cordial relations with Azerbaijan. Pakistan not only supports the Azeri stance over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue but goes out of the way to not recognize Armenia as a sovereign state. In turn, Azerbaijan supports Pakistan's stance on the Kashmir dispute. On the contrary, Armenia not only refused to withdraw its forces from the internationally recognized Azeri land but supports Pakistan's arch-enemy India on the Kashmir issue as a diplomatic move to counter Pakistan. This is the first-ever study conducted on Pakistan-Armenia relations. The article explores the reasons behind Pakistan's decision not to recognize Armenia in great detail. It discusses the estrangement between the two countries, especially in light of the Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

This article aims to study the estrangement between Pakistan and Armenia in light of the issue of Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh. Most Pakistanis are not aware of the fact that Pakistan does not recognize Armenia nor have any official diplomatic relations with her due to Pakistan's principle stance over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Armenia occupied more than 20 percent internationally recognized Azeri territory during the 1992 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Pakistan has brotherly and cordial relations with Azerbaijan. Pakistan not only supports the Azeri stance over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue but goes out of the way to not recognize Armenia as a sovereign state. In turn, Azerbaijan supports Pakistan's stance on the Kashmir dispute. On the contrary, Armenia not only refused to withdraw its forces from the internationally recognized Azeri land but supports Pakistan's arch-enemy India on the Kashmir issue as a diplomatic move to counter Pakistan. This is the first-ever study conducted on Pakistan-Armenia relations. The article explores the reasons behind Pakistan's decision not to recognize Armenia in great detail. It discusses the estrangement between the two countries, especially in light of the Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

In the context of rapidly increasing interest of regulators, legislators and academic research in the identity of audit engagement partners, this dissertation explores French mandatory joint audit environment where firms preparing consolidated financial statements are jointly audited by two independent audit firms. The composition of joint audit partners may include same gender audit partners (two male, two female) or gender-diverse audit partners (one male and one female). This dissertation aims to examine whether gender-diverse audit partners provide higher audit quality compared with same gender audit partners. We argue that gender-diverse engagement partners are more likely to promote effective monitoring and collaborative behavior with regard to audit process and may positively influence audit quality. We investigate the issue of audit quality by examining input- and output-based measures, namely, audit fees and discretionary accruals. We use data on French listed firms and apply appropriate econometrical procedures to alleviate concerns about endogeneity issues. The empirical findings show that gender-diverse audit partners charge 11% audit fee premium and their clients exhibit lower levels of absolute and signed discretionary accruals. Collectively, we provide considerable evidence that gender-diverse audit partners produce higher-quality audits. In the aftermath of gender quota legislation, the current dissertation also examines whether gender profile of audit clients affect the selection/assignment of gender-diverse audit partners. Contrary to the gender similarity (homophily) argument—based on comprehensive analyses of client-partner gender alignments—we provide compelling evidence that that female directors appointed to monitoring positions on the board, compared to female inside directors, tend to select higher quality "auditor pairs" (i.e., gender-diverse engagement partners). ; Dans le contexte de l'intérêt croissant des régulateurs, des législateurs et de la recherche universitaire pour l'identité ...

In the context of rapidly increasing interest of regulators, legislators and academic research in the identity of audit engagement partners, this dissertation explores French mandatory joint audit environment where firms preparing consolidated financial statements are jointly audited by two independent audit firms. The composition of joint audit partners may include same gender audit partners (two male, two female) or gender-diverse audit partners (one male and one female). This dissertation aims to examine whether gender-diverse audit partners provide higher audit quality compared with same gender audit partners. We argue that gender-diverse engagement partners are more likely to promote effective monitoring and collaborative behavior with regard to audit process and may positively influence audit quality. We investigate the issue of audit quality by examining input- and output-based measures, namely, audit fees and discretionary accruals. We use data on French listed firms and apply appropriate econometrical procedures to alleviate concerns about endogeneity issues. The empirical findings show that gender-diverse audit partners charge 11% audit fee premium and their clients exhibit lower levels of absolute and signed discretionary accruals. Collectively, we provide considerable evidence that gender-diverse audit partners produce higher-quality audits. In the aftermath of gender quota legislation, the current dissertation also examines whether gender profile of audit clients affect the selection/assignment of gender-diverse audit partners. Contrary to the gender similarity (homophily) argument—based on comprehensive analyses of client-partner gender alignments—we provide compelling evidence that that female directors appointed to monitoring positions on the board, compared to female inside directors, tend to select higher quality "auditor pairs" (i.e., gender-diverse engagement partners). ; Dans le contexte de l'intérêt croissant des régulateurs, des législateurs et de la recherche universitaire pour l'identité ...