As Egypt hardliners gain, scope for conflict grows
If there was any hope left that the generals who overthrew Egypt's elected president six months ago might ease the state's crackdown on dissent, a suicide bomb that ripped through…
Ignored ground Realities
An investment's incentives scheme announced by the Prime Minister on November 29 has caused a stir in the business community; it prompted accolades as well as criticism, which forced the…
Drones and dirty politics
A close friend, who has a flair for the dramatic, told me earlier in the week that he had been having sleepless nights since July 2011. Like Shakespeare’s Polonius, he…
The robbing class
At a meeting with businessmen and industrialists on November 28, the prime minister announced with great fanfare what was billed as an economic revival package for the country. In the…
New power balance
The months-long suspense was broken last week by the not-so-surprising choice of a dark horse as the country’s new army chief. It was Nawaz Sharif’s way of playing safe and…
Of US strategic allies
The proposer of the phrase "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" thought corruption was the gravest sin; what he overlooked though, was that corruption (gift of power) is the off-shoot…
Terms of engagement
WHEN a US drone killed Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud, Pakistan`s interior minister proclaimed it had killed the chances of negotiating peace with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In fact, Pakistani reactions…
Magic` and reality
BEFORE his death in a US drone strike, the Pakistani Taliban chief Hakeemullah Mehsud had started to feel better thanks to the `spiritual` healing at the hands of an Arab…
The lies our leaders tell
Novelists and playwrights have vividly described the remorse that assails those who have done evil, they have portrayed the torment of a stricken conscience and the long nights of sleeplessness…
Three Es
Energy, extremism and the economy. These have been – and continue to be – he PML-N’s officially stated goals, objectives and targets. Where do we now stand? How far have…
