A ventilator for democracy
WHEN Russian tanks bombarded the country’s elected deputies inside the besieged Duma, and Boris Yeltsin was declared a hero for ordering the assault, the Western world called it a triumphant…
Living on apologies and U-turns
The transition from a populist crusader to a pragmatic mundane routine job ends up exposing the real face of a rightwing regime tuned to the imperatives of Big Business and…
A social democratic alternative
The mainstream parliamentary parties are being eroded as the alignment of democratic forces breaks down and the Charter of Democracy evaporates at the altar of expediency. With this erosion, the…
The world of the one percent
Approximately 88 percent of the wealth created last year went to the one percent rich as opposed to half the world’s poor (3.7 billion people), who saw no increase in…
The new order
Henry Kissinger writes that the two competing strains of international relations have kept struggling for ascendancy as the afterglow of post-Westphalian peace. The first strain harked back to the order…
Beyond militarism
Pakistan’s national security dilemma has an uncanny resemblance to the security dilemma of the Sparta-led Peloponnesian League that was embroiled in a mutually enervating duel with the Greek Empire from…
Twitter Trump
Despite its high-market valuation, Twitter is reportedly losing money. It may be a blessing for the world if it was to shut down. Then, the “bellicose ignoramus” (in the words…
Coercive water diplomacy
When the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was signed in 1960 amidst much fanfare, US President Eisenhower hailed it as “one bright spot ... in a very depressing world picture that…
Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025: Ill-advised, confiscatory & undemocratic
The President of Pakistan issued Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, published in The Gazette of Pakistan on May 2, 2025, made effective at once. Presidential Ordinance No. IV of 2025…
So, who won?
The question that naturally arises after the military denouement of the tense standoff between India and Pakistan is: who won? The answer lies in comparing aims. According to the doyen…
