Mirza and the lost republic
In Pakistan’s political folklore, Iskander Ali Mirza carries a reputation forged by repetition rather than examination. He is cast as the man who ‘invited the army into politics’, the civilian…
South Asia’s climate quandary
South Asia, home to nearly two billion people, is no longer peering at climate risk through the telescope of 2050; it is living it now. Heatwave clusters, glacial-lake outburst floods…
The divide between perception and reality
Liked. Disliked. Empowering. Disempowering. Engaging. Disengaging. Open. Closed. Humble. Arrogant. These are not just opposites. These are paradoxes. These are contradictions. These are sides of the same coin. These are…
Trump’s public shrug over drone incursion in Poland fuels unease in Europe
The swarm of nearly 20 drones across Polish borders this week triggered deep anxiety among NATO members who, for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine,…
Peace and justice
THE Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity by 2030. Achieving these ideals…
Land for peace?
BACK in the days when a two-state solution to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands did not seem absurdly unviable, ‘land for peace’ was a familiar trope, implying that both sides would…
War games and city plans
The recent Pakistan–India and Israel-Iran wars show that cities and infrastructure are at great risk during wars. However, we can learn from the strategic aspects of military and defence planning,…
Economic realities and export
While macroeconomic indicators have achieved feeble stability over the past year, on-the-ground conditions remain as hopeless as they were a year ago. There’s abundant rhetoric about increasing exports, but it’s…
Panic and Plan B: How the US visa pause impacts Indian students
Over the last few weeks, 28-year-old Raj Iyer and his family have been scrambling to figure out ways to fund his master’s programme at Columbia University in the United States.…
