Karachi Europe is experiencing fast political and economic changes that have fueled its fears on terrorism, extremism as well as human and drug trafficking emerging from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Therefore, Pakistan should see how it can reduce Europe’s fear by effectively dealing with the problems of extremism and terrorism emerging from the region, career diplomat Shahid Ameen said on Monday. He made the observation while speaking at a workshop on the ‘Politics of Identity in Contemporary Europe’ organised at the University of Karachi (KU) by The Area Study Centre for Europe and The Hans Seidel Foundation, Islamabad. “Europe has to find the solutions of its financial crisis, likewise Pakistan needs to focus on the issues of extremism and terrorism as it has caused a lot of concerns in Europe about Pakistan,” he said. Europe is facing problems of migration issues, the euro-zone crisis and the rise of right wing political parties, but at the same time, it is also trying to get to the root of such issues, so one should not be apprehensive over the future of Europe, he added. Prof Dr Uzma Shujaat, the In-charge of the Area Study Centre for Europe at KU, in her introductory remarks, highlighted that the increasing role of supranational — as opposed to intergovernmental — decision-making and the establishment of a European citizenship have promoted the development of a political community in the European Union. Prof Dr Rashid Ahmad Khan, chairman of the department of International Relations and Political Science at the University of Sargodha, elaborated on the difference between ethnic movements, nationalist movements and ethno-nationalist movements. On the rise of right wing politics in Europe, Prof Dr Mutahir Ahmed from the Department of International Relations at KU, said that the far right intellectuals of the West propagated the fears of the clash of civilisations over the last two decades which played a big role in the current
