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In early January, Tunisia and Iran witnessed remarkably similar periods of spontaneous and widespread unrest. In each case, the demonstrations failed to rise to revolutionary levels, but the protests lingered for days and the worst of the violence was contained only after hundreds of arrests. Low level protests continue in each country to this day. Although the scale of Iran’s …

The constitution is supreme. But the constitution is what the judges say it is. We have had direct military rule. We have seen a troika keeping democracy in check. We have had Article 58(2)(b) used by presidents to sack elected governments on khaki prodding, with the Supreme Court playing the underwriter. Since 2009, we have evolved a jurisprudence that makes …

LAHORE: Pakistan’s inclusion in Financial Action Task Force (FATF) watch list will certainly lead to more vigil from regulators and financial institutions, which thus means that this action proposed by United States and its European allies will increase the business transaction costs and economic pains of a Nuclear power that has now been pinpointed as a jurisdiction with weak measures …

QUITE soon, political parties will, hopefully, start thinking of their manifestos and the key messages they want to send to their voters ie what the parties stand for, and what they would like to achieve if they are elected and brought to power. Education, as per history and tradition, will get some space in their manifestos. Article 25-A, the right …

Watchdog journalism is being replaced by guard dog journalism. Media is deferential to authority, intolerant of contrarian views. These are not good times for the Indian media. Most people I know have formed an irrevocable impression that it’s become pusillanimous. Where once newspapers and television channels boasted of challenging and exposing the government, we now flinch from doing so. Worse, …

ADB’s report on Pakistan power sector and coal power plants is a clarion call to straighten up the path or be prepared for irreversible impacts of climate change The recently conducted independent evaluation by Asian Development Bank (ADB) titled Sector Assistance Program Evaluation (SAPE) (URL: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/evaluation-document/397216/files/eap-pak-spe-energy.pdf) for the Pakistan power sector has revealed that through the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic …

Bottom Line: Current U.S.-Pakistan relations remain strained as the U.S. maintains that Pakistan’s security and intelligence services are doing the minimum to hunt America’s militant enemies within its borders. Pakistani officials have told The Cipher Brief that they have been searching for a way to restart relations despite public humiliation by President Donald Trump earlier this year. Each side wants …

In the early hours of Saturday morning, the Middle East was on the brink of yet another war. During the night, according to my high-ranking sources, Israel’s intelligence services had been tracking an Iranian drone that was launched by the Quds division of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the Tiyas air base in central Syria. A minute and …

India and Pakistan have reached an impasse over issues of the Kishenganga and Ratle power plants. Their last meeting in the “good offices” of the World Bank last August and September yielded no progress and there has been no movement on the Indus Waters Treaty since. There are two opposing points of view regarding the forum to resolve concerns regarding …

Managing migration is one of the most profound challenges for international cooperation in our time. Migration powers economic growth, reduces inequalities and connects diverse societies. Yet it is also a source of political tensions and human tragedies. The majority of migrants lives and works legally. But a desperate minority is putting their lives at risk to enter countries where they …