US drawdown and a hollow victory
Nothing seems to be working in Afghanistan, an unfortunate but fascinating country ravaged by 33 years of conflict, military interventions by two superpowers, civil war, militancy and an unending struggle…
Neo-liberal nationalism?
Ayesha Siddiqa in her essay, “Pakistan’s modernity: Between military and militancy”, for India’s Economic and Political Weekly, abridged for The Friday Times in their issue of March 9-15, 2012, posits…
A good beginning
The US-Pakistan strategic dialogue is indeed the beginning of a process of placing the two countries on the path of a more durable relationship that transcends the immediate fight against…
A diabolical ideology
Few other societies have faced the menace of religious extremism in a bloodier fashion than ours. Yet few other societies have seen such a sharp split on this critical issue than ours. What irony!
Augmenting the tax-to-GDP ratio
Pakistan must augment its dismal tax-to-GDP ratio of 9 percent to meet the financial requirements for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood/militancy and earthquake-hit areas. The Federal Board of Revenue…
A heavy price to pay
That Pakistan is a poorly administered country is widely accepted. Cynics call Pakistan a ‘failed state’. Others prefer ‘ungovernable’. Although optimists treat our problems as the pangs of transition, scourges…
Implications of the Waziristan operation
The mother of all battles it may not be, but success of the Waziristan operation is critical to the fight against militancy in Pakistan. It is the last frontier, an…
