What is on offer on the economic front?
The manifestoes of the two major parties namely the PML (N) and the PPP have been released amidst much fanfare. One question uppermost in the minds of analysts is: given…
Rumours and conspiracies
Wasn’t the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan said to have been about our warm waters? Never mind whether it was the Cold War or Charlie Wilson’s war, wasn’t there the obscure…
The decade after
As President Barack Obama started out on his journey to the Middle East, Iraqis were marking the tenth anniversary of the invasion of their country — an invasion that was…
Lollywood: an obituary
In terms of production, the late Lollywood was once rated as one of the world’s top ten film industries. Until the 1980s it was not called Lollywood. It was on…
Undermining the elections
In our own little world of feudal-colonial-authoritarian traditions, the aspirations for democratic values and institutions are evenly matched by a discomfort with both values and institutions. How deep is that…
Bangladesh & 1971 syndrome
Bangladesh is again plunging itself into another phase of political turmoil and violence. The decision by the Dhaka-based International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) to award capital punishment to two key leaders…
How to build a state
In a statement released to the press in the wake of the gruesome massacre of Shia Hazaras in Quetta, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif declared, rather ominously, that Pakistan was…
Viewpoint: Old Thinking, New Realities
Conspiracy hatchers and theorists have always abounded in the murky politics of this country: politicians conspiring with the establishment for the overthrow of their rivals, with foreign powers to keep…
Arab Spring’s first hope Tunisia rocked by assassination
The assassination of opposition politician Chokri Belaid has plunged Tunisia, poster child for the Arab Spring, into its worst crisis since police opened fire two years ago on pro-democracy protesters.…
Harsh lessons from regime change
Although the event went largely unreported in Pakistan and elsewhere, a Coptic church was burned down in the Libyan city of Benghazi on March 4. Earlier, there was an assassination…
