Gathering clouds over Asia
“Poor Mexico. So far from God, so close to the US,” said the president of Mexico. No, it was not its current president, nor was this lament uttered in 2017.…
CPEC vs the Marshall Plan
While the projects under CPEC are being drawn and worked upon, and the government of Pakistan is evincing unswerving interest and commitment to see them through, some detractors of this…
A better multilateralism
The world appears to be engulfed by the politics — and economics — of anger. Much of the ire stems from the ‘fallout’ of globalisation — freer trade and large-scale…
What would make America great?
Flanked by the new first lady, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th US president on January 20, 2017. At the inauguration ceremony, he underlined the significance of ‘buying…
The Corridor
The global economic, political and social dynamics - after around 70 years - have come full circle. In the 1950s, it was the United States of America that stood high…
Afghanistan: perceptions
No country can exist in isolation in the age of globalisation. It has to prioritise its own interests and engage accordingly with other countries. Due to its strategic location, weak…
The ‘Rashomon’ effect
Has winter turned the corner? The gruelling cold till a week ago has suddenly, without warning, given way to milder days. Signs of spring abound. While a cold snap is…
Rich? Scared about the Trumpocalypse? Try New Zealand
The elevation of an unpredictable billionaire to the helm of nuclear-armed America has given fresh impetus to the idea of remote New Zealand as a bulwark for civilisation in the…
World in flux
Influential contemporary thinker and author George Friedman observed that the modern geopolitical world changes after every 20 years. Towards the end of the 19th century, European ascendancy was complete. By…
A ‘new world order’ trading bloc
In an article, "Roads to nowhere, Pakistan's misguided obsession with infrastructure", (January 17, 2017), the Economist has painted a very bleak future for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as…
