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Small and great

WITH the exception of a handful of countries, this world is ruled by small people. There is no great man in sight. In America, Richard Nixon was the last great…

Intractable realities

THIS is not a perfect world. These six words were cynically hurled at me around midnight by the person occupying the presidential mansion in Islamabad in 2009. He was mad…

Diluted opposition

IT is worth understanding why despite large-scale and detrimental changes to judicial independence, widespread electoral manipulation last February, and severe curtailment of civil liberties in various forms, resistance to these acts has…

Straws in the Syrian whirlwind

THE pendulum of zealotry almost always ushers in intellectual subterfuge in its wake. The lightning, if not spontaneous, takeover of Damascus by mediaeval militias is being predictably applauded by Western journalists as…

Politics and economics

This is the first of a two-part series focusing on the symbiotic relationship between politics and economics, with existing literature focusing more on domestic policies premised on globalization representative of…

Peanut gallery

PAKISTAN’S military dictator, Ziaul Haq, rejected $400 million in American aid in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan as ‘peanuts’. It was a not-so-subtle dig at then-US president…

BB and the art of realpolitik

The political career of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27, 2007, was a saga of fluctuating fortunes. Twice she was voted to power (1988 and 1993) and twice…

BB and the art of realpolitik

The political career of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27, 2007, was a saga of fluctuating fortunes. Twice she was voted to power (1988 and 1993) and twice…

A legacy of struggle

Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary (which falls today) will be marked this year amidst another moment of political uncertainty in Pakistan. A few days before her assassination, Shaheed BB…