Hopes fade for swift NATO accession for Finland, Sweden
Finland and Sweden are to discuss their stalled NATO bids with Turkey in Brussels on Monday, but hopes are fading they will be able resolve their dispute before an alliance…
Democratic optimism
Zohran Mamdani’s taking office as Mayor of New York City offers several reasons for democratic optimism. As the first-ever mayor to be sworn in on a Quran, the 34 year-old…
Europe’s autonomy problem
I keep hearing the phrase “strategic autonomy,” including in discussions about the latest joint declaration on Ukraine. The term also appears in speeches and policy papers, moving from Brussels to…
Christmas in a strife-torn world
CHRISTMAS was the Big Day, the Bada Din for India’s diverse communities regardless of anyone’s religious beliefs. The big day was a holiday. It was for some a day to…
Climate liberalism dilemma
DEMOCRACY’S greatest virtue is its humanity. It trusts people to think, argue, dissent, and decide. It believes political legitimacy comes from consent, not coercion, and that progress is best made…
The mother of Bangladesh
The passing of Begum Khaleda Zia, an uncompromising icon of democracy and sovereignty in Bangladesh politics, has cast a deep pall of grief over the Bangladeshi nation. Her life reads…
How terror became a convenient alibi
History rarely advances on the stren1gth of reason alone. More often, it lurches forward under the cover of fear. In such moments, violence is not merely endured; it is repurposed.…
Dangerous classes
PERENNIALLY obsessed with securing the next IMF bailout package, our economic managers spend much time and energy curating facts and figures to meet the demands of the proverbial donor. There…
Revisiting tolerance
EACH year, the International Day for Tolerance arrives as a quiet prompt to reflect on what it means to live together despite our differences. Yet in Pakistan, the word ‘tolerance’…
The cost of stays
PAKISTAN’S economic crises are often described in terms of inflation, taxation and political instability. But a quieter obstacle to growth lies in the unpredictability of its legal system. The core…
