No more escape routes
Pakistan’s military should review the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and how they were not always the kind of partners and proxies we had envisioned…
The spectre of Islamist infiltration
The recent attacks on the Karachi naval base have once again sparked a debate concerning the much-feared radicalisation within the armed forces. Declan Walsh…
Sense and sovereignty in Kafkastan
I just returned from Karachi, where the city was outraged at the unscheduled, endless power cuts. Everywhere, the energy crisis dominated the discussions. In…
Pakistan has been playing us all for suckers
Britain is spending millions bolstering Pakistan, but it is a nation in thrall to radical Islam and is using its instability to blackmail the…
Dynasties and Clientelism in Pakistan
THE hallmark of Pakistan’s political elites is their narrow base. A limited number of families have dominated Pakistan’s legislatures since the country’s inception in…
Balochistan: Pushed to the wall
There must be something terribly wrong with the state of Pakistan that in its largest province, state schools no longer recite the national anthem…
Democracy – the only option
Much has been elaborated on the binding constraints faced by Pakistani democracy. Conventional wisdom suggests that the civil-military imbalance has left little space for…
Future of a crisis
Pakistan's ruling elites fond of palace intrigues and power maximisation tricks must realise that this may be the last chance of saving the country,…
Pakistan: A transitional polity
Pakistan’s existentialist crisis is no longer a strictly Pakistani issue. Its potential repercussions have emerged as a cornerstone of global debates on regional stability…
Clear and present danger
Published by The News, Pakistan If the parliament and judiciary want to continue exercising their newfound powers, they have no option but to act…
Whither civilian governance?
My new piece published by The Friday Times While the gurus of security and international affairs continue to unpack and make sense of the…
What is the threat? What is the way out?
In these times, when the country is burning and militancy is at its peak, the priorities of the unelected institutions are curiously different. Peshawar…
This is a long war
This is a critical moment in our history perhaps unmatched for its severity and its brutal reality. The experiential nightmare that our country is…
Suicide Democrats
I am appalled by the recent events that have yet again stirred instability and uncertainty into Pakistani politics. Those of us who voted in…
Indo-Pak film wars
Filming the Line of Control: the Indo-Pak Relationship through the Cinematic Lens; Edited by Meenakshi Bharat & Nirmal Kumar; Routledge 2008; Pp239; Price Rs…