February 2015

 Pakistan is the second biggest country in South Asia in terms of human capital. It is also an active member of Saarc and other regional organizations but how ironic is the fact that while other nations in the region are making progress by leaps and bounds and are achieving the cherished goals of development, Pakistan is fast becoming a country …

Clash of Civilizations or A Fatal Trap for Europe? It is sad to see how a continent that was one cradle of civilisation is running blindly into a trap, the trap of a holy war with Islam — and that six terrorists were sufficient to bring that about. It is time to get out of the comprehensible “We are All …

“It’s official: The US is the world’s leading terrorist state, and proud of it.” That should have been the headline for the lead story in the New York Times, which was more politely titled “CIA Study of Covert Aid Fueled Skepticism About Helping Syrian Rebels.” The article reports on a CIA review of recent US covert operations to determine their …

The key political issue of our age Does this sometimes feel like a country under enemy occupation? Do you wonder why the demands of so much of the electorate seldom translate into policy? Why parties of the left seem incapable of offering effective opposition to market fundamentalism, let alone proposing coherent alternatives? Do you wonder why those who want a …

Will Iran And The West Reach An Agreement In 2015? The failure of the “P5+1” (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and Iran to meet the November 24, 2014 deadline for reaching a final nuclear agreement was indeed a setback. However, the decision to extend the deadline to July 2015 was a victory for diplomacy. …

The word ‘civil’ refers to the civil government as an entity, of which the military itself is a significant part. The civil government is decidedly the superior of the two and the only relationship between them should be that of a superior and a subordinate. But, in Pakistan’s case, the subordinate entity has, time and again, toppled the superior entity’s …

How to deal with terror Barely has one month passed since the heart-rending and soul-piercing Peshawar tragedy took place that much hyped political consensus against terrorism has started developing cracks. The first blow to the nascent national unity was dealt by the JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, who opted out to support the 21st amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, objecting …

Pakistan is relatively a young nation with 69% of its total population falling below 29 years of age and almost 53% below 19 years. Therefore, ameliorating the situation in Pakistan for better future of our youngsters is of vital importance. Unfortunately, at present, Pakistan lags far behind other developing countries in terms of education, health social safety nets particularly for …

The year 2014 began in Pakistan with business as usual but closed rather dramatically with a paradigm shift in our way of politics, state governance and split of society into those struggling for a change and the ones adamant to maintain status quo. In between were happenings much of which never witnessed before.

Fishing in the Troubled Waters The economy of Pakistan had been in turbulent waters since it remained grappling with one crisis after the other during the previous year. During this year Pakistan witnessed a lot more politics as well as the scourge of terrorism that left little room for reviving the crippling economy. In fact the year ended with a …