Further progress
Last week I had identified some steps that Pakistan had taken to promote reconciliation in Afghanistan. I had suggested that there were further measures that Pakistan should also take, urgently, since…
Could this flood have been avoided?
“Water shortages present the greatest future threat to the viability of Pakistan as a state and society,” warns British scholar Anatol Lieven. Pakistan is already one of the most water-stressed…
Would-be adoptive parents look beyond Russia
Russia's new ban on US adoptions is the latest setback for hopeful American parents as countries increasingly impose restrictions. Other countries, including China and Guatemala, have erected hurdles for adoptive…
The Kerry-Lugar offerings
The US administration and its representatives in Pakistan must be chewing on their nails ever since the House passed the reconciled 2009 bill on aid to Pakistan. Just as Senator…
Viewpoint
The demand for a Seraiki province goes back a long time, gaining some fresh attention two years ago when a PMLQ senator launched a campaign for reestablishment of Bahawalpur province…
What if there isn’t ‘consensus’?
During an informal conversation with media personnel last Monday on board the plane taking him back home after attending the Boao Forum, Gilani said that Pakistan was in no hurry…
The worth of a degree
IT makes me angry to hear someone as influential as a government minister say, “A degree is a degree — whether it’s real or fake, it’s still a degree.” And…
Afghan choices
The endgame for the current Afghanistan crisis is supposedly approaching or is already underway. Some Taliban leaders have already been flown by NATO to Kabul for talks. Holbrooke has cautioned,…
A case for changing role of Senate
The present composition of the Senate, its role in parliamentary democracy and the manner in which the Senators are elected does not seem to satisfy the present day requirements when…
Post-US Afghanistan
Imagine the following scenario: the US-led NATO forces pull out of Afghanistan, though not as chaotically as Russians did, and certainly without admitting defeat. The most likely situation will be…
