Desi dramas are an integral part of many lives in the subcontinent. I also have sat through some of them. Invariably, there is the main story and then some side plots serve as a distraction to prevent monotony and prolong the drama. At times, this distraction becomes the main plot. That is what happened to the US and their allies in the Afghan war. The conflict was triggered as a reaction to the events of 9/11. It had started as a popular war with the express intent to root out Al Qaeda, bring Osama Bin Laden to justice and dismantle the Taliban regime. Before these objectives had been achieved, another distraction emerged: the invasion of Iraq to bring down Saddam Hussein and destroy weapons of mass destruction. Saddam went, but no such weapons were ever found. These two wars sucked in the West, mainly the US; leaving the world stage free for China. This allowed for an economic leap forward unseen in recorded history. The recent “Fortune 500” report said it all. Numbers don’t lie. China has overtaken the US having 129 of the largest companies in the world followed by 121 American companies. In 1999, China had only eight such companies. Amongst the top ten banks, the US used to be the leader having eight. Now it has only two. The top four banks are Chinese. The world economic scene has turned on its head. Western claims of being the “biggest and best” sound hollow when compared to realities on the ground. Hence, President Biden’s determined effort to end the distraction of being mired in Afghanistan by August 31, 2021! It is a reality check and realisation that real challenges to the West lie somewhere else. Trillions spent in the Afghan and Iraq war were a waste of unprecedented proportions. The price Pakistan paid and will continue to pay to rebuild a broken society will require enormous resources, political will and unwavering commitment. Biden wants to reboot to confront the real challenges. It is the West competing with China, Russia, Iran and now Afghanistan. He has coined the proposition as “a choice between Western democracy and autocracy.” Their viceroy in the region is India backed by “Quad,” which includes Australia and Japan. Where the Arab monarchies fit in is yet to be determined. A twenty-year military adventure in Afghanistan has left large wounds amongst neighbours. Pakistan is the biggest sufferer. We were sucked into a conflict, not of our making, and paid a humungous toll of over 70,000 lives lost and an estimated $150 billion in cumulative losses. The biggest tragedy was the total disruption in our society. It is difficult to quantify in numbers. However, the price we paid and will continue to pay to rebuild a broken society will require enormous resources, political will and unwavering commitment. We have always looked towards the West to keep us afloat in Pakistan. They obliged as long as we signed onto their agenda. It was a perfect recipe for disaster. The US was the dominant player. As long as we were subservient, they ignored dictators, corrupt rulers and ruthless exploitation of the exchequer. The most recent example being Ashraf Ghani fleeing Kabul with hundreds of millions in cash stolen from the US largesse. Where did it land us? A snapshot of what we face will put issues in perspective. We had the worst kind of corruption amongst the rulers stealing the country blind. Corruption became an acceptable way of life at all tiers of governance. The population has exploded beyond imagination. From 50 million in 1970, we are at 220 million, growing like rabbits. We have a broken court system incapable of dispensing justice. Healthcare and education are severely lagging. Religion has been radicalised. There is a total breakdown of morality in society. Kids and women are fair game for rape and brutalisation. The police are corrupt and incompetent. The prosecution is a disaster. Money and being part of the elite is a license to break the law and get away with it. Politicians are selfish, driven by greed and short term gains. The list goes on. We are seeing it manifest itself in everyday life. The tragic assault of a lady on August 14 at the venue of the Pakistan Resolution is a slap in the face of the entire nation. The worst part is demonising the victims. Watching images of young girls and boys violated and often murdered is the ugliest shape of humanity. The present depravity and degeneration is a devastating failure of the system. Rule of law has been replaced by the law of jungle. The head of the snake is just as rotten. It is three years into the reformist government of the PTI. Yet, there are no convictions of past rulers who stole money every which way. Their cases linger with no punishments being meted out. Our justice system stands neutered and is ineffective. Despite tons of evidence, the cases are crawling and culprits pretend to be martyrs. The PTI’s flagship slogan of “Justice for all” has fallen flat on its face. A judicial emergency needs to be proclaimed and every resource deployed to bring in massive reforms at all costs. This is the only path available to achieve even a semblance of “Riasat e Medina”. The present democratic dispensation shall not permit radical reforms. Ground realities dictate the emergence of a new system other than the Western democracy. A presidential system may be the only answer unless we drift into the autocracy column, as defined by President Biden. The writer is the director of CERF, a non-profit, charitable organisation in Canada