In nuclear ethics and deterrence theory, no first use (NFU) refers to a type of pledge or policy wherein a nuclear power formally refrains from the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in warfare, except for as a second strike in retaliation to an attack by an enemy power using WMD. Such a pledge would allow for a unique state of affairs in which a given nuclear power can be engaged in a conflict of conventional weaponry while it formally forswears any of the strategic advantages of nuclear weapons, provided the enemy power does not possess or utilize any such weapons of their own. The concept is primarily invoked in reference to nuclear mutually assured destruction but has also been applied to chemical and biological warfare, as is the case of the official WMD policy of India.

Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greater autonomy are usually not considered separatists. Some discourse settings equate separatism with religious segregation, racial segregation, or sex segregation, while other discourse settings take the broader view that separation by choice may serve useful purposes and is not the same as government-enforced segregation. There is some academic debate about this definition, and in particular how it relates to secessionism, as has been discussed online.

Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahidin, is a Pakistan-affiliated Islamist militant organisation that has been engaged in the Kashmir insurgency since 1989. It aims to separate Kashmir from India and merge it with Pakistan, and is thus one of the most important players in the region as it evolved the narrative of the Kashmir conflict by steering the struggle away from nationalism and towards jihadism.

The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, also known as the Kashmir insurgency, is an ongoing separatist militant insurgency against the Indian administration in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory constituting the southwestern portion of the larger geographical region of Kashmir, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947.

Football is among the most popular team sports in Pakistan, together with long time number one cricket and field hockey. Pakistan's current top domestic football league is the Pakistan Premier League, recognised by the AFC as the official national football league. The PFF National Challenge Cup is a knock-out competition among Pakistani departmental and government institutions. Football in general is run by the Pakistan Football Federation.

The United States foreign policy toward the People's Republic of China originated during the Cold War. At that time, the U.S. had a containment policy against communist states. The leaked Pentagon Papers indicated the efforts by the U.S. to contain China through military actions undertaken in the Vietnam War. The containment policy centered around an island chain strategy. President Richard Nixon's China rapprochement signaled a shift in focus to gain leverage in containing the Soviet Union. Formal diplomatic ties between the U.S. and China were established in 1979, and with normalized trade relations since 2000, the U.S. and China have been linked by closer economic ties and more cordial relations. In his first term as U.S. president, Barack Obama said, "We want China to succeed and prosper. It's good for the United States if China continues on the path of development that it's on".

The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency and revolt by Baloch separatist insurgents and various Islamist militant groups against the governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Balochistan region, which covers the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and Balochistan of southern Afghanistan. Rich in natural resources, this is the largest, least populated and least developed province in Pakistan and Iran, and armed groups demand greater control of the province's natural resources and political autonomy. Baloch separatists have attacked civilians from other ethnicities throughout the province. In the 2010s, attacks against the Shia community by sectarian groups—though not always directly related to the political struggle—have risen, contributing to tensions in Balochistan. In Pakistan, the ethnic separatist insurgency is low-scale but ongoing mainly in southern Balochistan, as well as sectarian and religiously motivated militancy concentrated mainly in northern and central Balochistan.

The Fourth Balochistan Conflict was a four-year military conflict in Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, between the Pakistan Army and Baloch separatists and tribesmen that lasted from 1973 to 1977.

The Balochistan Liberation Army is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in the Baluchistan region of Afghanistan. Operating primarily from safe havens scattered across southern Afghanistan, BLA perpetrates attacks in neighboring Pakistan's Balochistan province, which it seeks to remove from Pakistani sovereignty. It frequently targets Pakistan Armed Forces, civilians and foreign nationals.

An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not always ultimately result in independence.

Michael Joseph Morell is an American former career intelligence analyst. He was the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013 and twice as its acting director, first in 2011 and then from 2012 to 2013. He is also a professor at the George Mason University - Schar School of Policy and Government.

The Schar School of Policy and Government is the public policy school of George Mason University, a public research university in the Commonwealth of Virginia near Washington, D.C.

Professor Alexander Mirtchev, LL.M., Ph.D. is an American academic, executive, author and philanthropist, working in the areas of geopolitics, geoeconomics, global economic security, and political risk analysis and mitigation. He is a vice chair of the Atlantic Council of the United States, where he is also a member of the executive and strategy committees and the advisory council of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Dr. Mirtchev is a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University's Schar School of Government and Policy. Dr. Mirtchev is a founding council member of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where he served as a senior fellow and member of the Wilson National Cabinet. He served as vice president of the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (RUSI), UK, as well as executive chairman of RUSI International. Dr. Mirtchev is also the president and founder of Krull Corp., a macro-economic geopolitical consultancy. His new book, "The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition," is published in English, German, Spanish, and Russian.

The Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security is a think tank in Arlington County, Virginia focused on the intelligence community including topics related to intelligence studies education, intelligence analysis techniques, the operations of intelligence agencies, and public policy and international relations related to national security, international security, and foreign policy through shared experiences of senior intelligence service leaders, military officers, elected officials, journalists, academics, and other civilian scholars.