Evaluation troubles
Human capital forms the foundation of an organization’s success. Recognizing this, organizations invest significant resources in hiring the best available talent and training them according to the organization’s vision, making…
Deterrence and diplomacy
THE strategic choices most consequential to Pakistan’s future lie within. They involve dealing with recurrent economic crises, providing effective governance, defeating terrorism, making education accessible to all its children and…
Whose hubris?
PUTIN’S ‘hubris’ is a popular theme for trenchant commentaries on Ukraine. One can see why. For truckloads of conventional Western pundits, the Ukraine tragedy began on the day of the…
Downsizing is not the answer
The cabinet committee on institutional reforms has proposed to cut some 150,000 positions in the federal government as part of the ‘rightsizing’ of the public sector. As these positions are…
Pakistan and the Soviet occupation
When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Zia asked General Akhtar, his ISI Chief, for an appraisal of the threat posed by the invasion. Akhtar predicted that sooner or later the Russians…
Isomorphic mimicry on steroidsMosharraf Zaidi
Every week, there are signs of life in the republic. One week the prime minister initiates a large-scale transformation effort for education by declaring an ‘education emergency’. Another week, the…
Flawed IMF programme design
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) analysis and prescriptions in the second and final review document under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) dated this month are to carry forward to the next…
Flawed IMF programme design
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) analysis and prescriptions in the second and final review document under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) dated this month are to carry forward to the next…
Finding political legitimacy
I wrote about the CAR framework last month and posited that governance has become much more challenging because ‘capability’, ‘accountability’ and ‘responsiveness’ have all become compromised. These qualities have been…
Truth and nothing but the truth
Shehbaz Sharif made some honest appraisal of the current governance and economic challenges faced by his government at the World Economic Forum meeting held at Riyadh. This forum primarily provides…
