Towards a quasi military-civilian regime
he prime minister is embroiled in a crisis every other day as real power slips away from him and shifts to a powerful and consistent space-grabber. Are we witnessing a…
Saudi Arabia and Iran need Pakistani leadership
For several months, the official line from both civilian and military leaders in Pakistan has been that the country has turned the corner. Loadshedding is down, and might be reduced…
Leaders and legacies
The writer is a former foreign secretary. Nations are not led by leaders any more. Countries, including those considered mothers and champions of democracies are no longer governed by moral…
OK to bash civilians for now
Attired in a necktie and suit, to many the first such public image of the interior minister, it took a dapper Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to reach Washington D.C. to…
When leaders get confused
It has taken them more days than the duration of our September 1965 war with India to now decide to amend the constitution to provide for trial of terror suspects…
Agony for civilians as Afghan battlefront expands north
Mauludeen lifts the shirt of his writhing, shrieking infant daughter to reveal a gunshot wound, highlighting the plight of tens of thousands of Afghans caught in the crossfire on the…
Art of leadership
Winston Churchill did not begin painting until he was 40. He used it in the manner Nehru practised yoga — as “a respite from crowding events and pulsating politics”. Churchill’s…
Lost civilian space
It is now all about Aug 14 it seems. But is it? Isn’t everything about the 14th a tactical distraction from the real strategic concern that neither our political masters…
Spine deficit: Pakistan’s leadership crisis
It’s like in those old fairy tales: you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The government now wants the army involved in the comedy of talks with the Taliban,…
The crisis of leadership
Last year, many Pakistanis were celebrating the country’s first democratic transition from one elected government to another with a lot of hope and optimism. Today, many are wondering whether our…
