Inter-dependence
Inter-dependence is one of the defining features of human society since Homo sapiens first began their journey of life on earth in small groups in East Africa about 200,000 years…
Sustainable development redefined
In Paris, two events – the recent terrorist attacks and the forthcoming Climate Summit – one of horror and the other of hope, signify the two principal challenges of our…
Waking up to climate change
The weather is changing. We have all noticed it. If you were born in Pakistan and have lived here all your life this drift towards extreme temperatures in summer months,…
In cold storage
When the Indian foreign secretary arrived in Islamabad recently for a routine Saarc visit, it was hoped that the stalled bilateral dialogue between Pakistan and India would resume. However, the…
Rise Gwadar
THE opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 provided the British with a much shorter route to access their colonial possessions in India. With that, the importance of Aden as…
Reimagining Karachi and urban Pakistan
Laurent Gayer’s book on Karachi’s “ordered disorder” has quite rightly begun to occupy top billing in any conversation about the city. This is a case of exceptional timing. As Karachi…
GSP Plus status: will we retain it?
Less than a year from today, the GSP Plus status granted to Pakistan would be reviewed by the EU. Pakistan had ratified the EU-specified 27 UN-ILO conventions but did little…
Drivers of growth
The next budget needs to articulate a vision because a growth revival has become urgent. What should be the contours of this vision and how can it be realised? In…
Incentives, class, unions & reform
There is no chance whatsoever of substantial reform of any element of the Pakistani state without the active participation and ownership of government employees. This seems a simple enough proposition…
India’s self-goal in the Valley
On the morning of Feb 9, 2013, Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri convict on death row, lodged in New Delhi’s high security Tihar jail was taken from his cot by the…
