The terrain of transformation
As a key concept of social theory, the civil society has remained a Western construct for the most part of our contemporary history of politics and development. My previous article…
The terrain of transformation
As a key concept of social theory, the civil society has remained a Western construct for the most part of our contemporary history of politics and development. My previous article…
Catalysts for social transformation
The traditional approaches of service delivery adopted by NGOs are fast losing credence in a world that is shaped by a benign ideological coercion. NGO-led mega projects of social services…
A transformational leader, unfortunately
Looking back, it now seems strange that during her first couple of years as prime minister, Margaret Thatcher was widely viewed as something of an aberration. In 1981, with unemployment…
A big transition
IT is hard to imagine how someone changes the course of their life — more so when that person is a top jihadist leader on the world’s most-wanted terrorist lists…
Misplaced optimism?
PAKISTAN can take comfort in the decision taken by Iran and Saudi Arabia, after mediation by China, to restore diplomatic ties. Pakistan has long been struggling to maintain a balance…
The bare minimum
IS violence based on religious extremism a law-and-order problem or an ideological/cultural one? This debate is neither new, nor particularly unique to Pakistan’s context, but it remains an important one…
Returning to a repressive order
THE brutal killing of a comedian in Kandahar last week and a spree of reported executions raise questions about the claim of the resurgent Afghan Taliban having reformed. It’s not just the…
US spies elevate China rivalry to war of ideologies
In a move that could harden Washington's posture toward Beijing for years, the US intelligence community has characterized relations with China as a global ideological showdown that will not be…
The imagined threat of the ‘modern’ woman
Last week marked the first death anniversary of Qandeel Baloch, murdered by her own family members. While it led to an outpouring of sympathy for the victim, it also instigated…
