Fixing politics by non-political means
Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a September 2006 coup and subsequently convicted of corruption, is back in the country after years in exile. His party…
People, politicians and political space
When Imran Khan came to power in 2018 many hoped he would break the hold of the corrupt and inefficient two-party system, which had controlled Pakistan’s political space since 1988.…
Pleasures of political kill
Among those who were stunned by a bit of unexpected news travelling from Bahawalpur on the afternoon of Aug 17 in 1988, some might recall the emptiness that the sudden…
A great social and political upheaval is coming?
There are two extremely discomforting economic phenomena unfolding simultaneously in Pakistan – one is dangerously high food inflation, and the other is rising unemployment. The term economists use for such…
Reasons for rationality
Rationality is essential to a state, just as it is for an individual. Without rationality a country can only fall into various traps including that created by conspiracy theories; chaos…
Geopolitical prudence
The Ukraine War, its complexities and global spillover effects, have not been adequately depicted by either political leaders or the more influential media. Most commonly, the Ukraine War has been…
Reasons for economic insolvency (Part – I)
The debate on whether Pakistan is close to a sovereign default on its obligations has been raging for a while now, notwithstanding a staff-level agreement signed a few weeks back…
Reasons for economic insolvency [Part – II]
The rise of western Europe started with the Renaissance, a remarkable period in world history, which began in 14th-century Italy and later spread to other countries. Italian city state Florence,…
Absurd political economy
Imran Khan is fond of reminding anyone who will listen that politics had nothing to offer him, and that he “came into politics” for completely benevolent reasons. In doing so,…
Time for ‘Great Reset’ of political and economic order
‘We are living in an era of multiple crises: Covid-19; a crisis of economic disappointment; a crisis of democratic legitimacy; a crisis of the global commons; a crisis of international…
