Polls, war and religion
A number of factors set the upcoming national polls apart from previous such exercises. To begin with, for the first time elections are being held with a neutral caretaker setup…
Combating financing of terrorism – I
"Pakistan has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by issuing an SRO to increase the maximum monetary sanction for non-compliance with S/RES/1267. However, despite Pakistan's high-level political commitment…
The significance of May 11
May 11 is not far away at all now. In fact, it lies just around the corner and, naturally enough, campaigning is on in earnest – with tickets allotted and…
The bigger picture
Pervez Musharraf’s revelation that US predatory raids within the territorial limits of Pakistan had the conditional consent of Islamabad is hardly revealing save that it comes straight from the horse’s…
Farcical debate
With a congressional hearing in the United States on the drone issue set for April 23, some groups in that country are making efforts to create a consensus for bringing…
Remembering March 9, 2007
March 9, 2007 was, undoubtedly, a tragic day in our history - it was not mere barring the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) from performing his duties on filing of…
A game of Russian roulette
We need to keep careful score as this election campaign moves on. The question that is emerging is not just that of who will win the poll, but of how…
Quaid’s vision of foreign policy
The Founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had envisioned the newly independent Muslim state's foreign policy to be one of "peace with all, and enmity with none". Pakistan must…
Is Pakistan sinking?
The question of Pakistan’s viability as a state is at least as old as the country itself. Recently a sobering article written by a former American ambassador to Pakistan has…
Everything’s almost free in Spain’s parallel barter economy
It can be argued that extra-judicial interventions first by Ghulam Mohammad as Governor General in 1951 and later by military regimes and disregard of the Constitution - facilitated by either…
