Conflict economics
A paranoid style of thinking is entrenching itself in our country, and a bizarre reading of our economic challenges and destiny lies at the root of it. Over the last…
America and the drone issue
Since my last article the debate in Washington on drones continues. The confirmation of John Brennan as the new CIA chief has been put off, with Senator Rand Paul of…
The tasks ahead for Fata’s salvation
A demand that the people of Fata have been making for so many years has finally been accepted and a son of the soil – Shaukatullah Khan, MNA-elect from Bajaur…
The evolving scenarios
Afzal Guru’s secret hanging on Saturday, conventional laws of dialectics direct us to believe, has spawned multi-layered linkages, ranging from corrosive domestic politics to high military strategy. Of these perhaps…
A self-defeating advice
Former premier Nawaz Sharif has asked the government to hold "serious, meaningful and result-oriented" talks with the Al-Qaeda-inspired local Taliban militants to bring peace in the country. A review of…
Afghanistan beyond 2014
The post-2014 situation in Afghanistan, after the withdrawal of the US/Nato/ International Security Assistance Force, has been the subject of a most vexing debate in recent times. The main difficulty…
Revolution: Islamabad style
Islamabad’s peace was shattered only once during the long march led by Dr Tahirul Qadri. The interior minister, who had authorised the march to move toward D-Chowk, did not comply…
Our growth diagnostics
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina opens with this line. This dictum holds true not only for…
Repaying our debts
At a recording last year for a PTV programme on the state of the economy, Gen Hamid Gul, a fellow co- panellist, argued for the repudiation of Pakistan’s external debt,…
Washington’s tough talk
The US frustration over Pakistan’s inability to curb militant activities on its soil and counter the scourge of extremist mindset has spilled again in public. This time, the tough-talk came…
