Andleeb Abbas

They came, they paid, they took. Everybody knew it, everybody expected it, yet, when it really happened, it angered and saddened a nation that has gotten into the habit of expecting the worst and then seeing it actually happen. The underlying message is that money talks, money buys and money silences. The Raymond Davis saga […]

The White House never changes its colours. This, unfortunately, seems true if you consider the dominant strategies the American leadership has been utilising in the last century or so. The reliance on military might to prove its supremacy has been a tested and tried strategy for the Americans starting from the massive world wars in […]

The country, economy, government, are all in a spot. They all need to be fixed; but by whom and how is the billion dollar question, which everybody is trying to figure out. The economy has been battered by a government whose expenditure has beaten all records. The increase in prices of petroleum products, which had […]

The season for hiring and firing is in. The criterion for recruiting ministers or coalition partners, as expected, is based on who can sell their loyalties the quickest and the cheapest. On these criteria an abundance of supply exists. Within hours the terms of endearment can change into a tirade of allegations and overnight they […]

With an absolute loss of demand, a clearance sale becomes the inevitable strategy. Being a captive customer of one client makes it impossible to bargain and negotiate. Such is the state of helplessness displayed by the government. How can any foreign country or individual come into your territory, bomb or kill without fear of the […]

Having run out of material over which to lie, brag and deceive, the government is facing idea bankruptcy. Excuses, allegations and accusations need a complete makeover. The latest fad of trimming down the government by dissolving the cabinet is being met with smirks all around as most people know that the same old faces are […]

Tunisia took the lead, Egypt came along and Yemen followed, with Algeria, Jordan and Sudan not far behind in the queue. The rise of nations long suppressed under autocratic regimes has taken a strange global turn. Helped by the instant news feed all across the world, both electronically and through the virtual world, countries are […]

Downsizing, sorry, rightsizing, or rather reshuffling is in. From government ministries to organisations, the management mantra is to work on the over-bloated body of inefficient and staid institutions and trim down the redundant fat of unwanted staff to bring these institutions back into workable shape. The government, pressurised by its own financial advisors, the public, […]

To bet on the future of a country or a company is a matter of analysis and intuition. You look at the facts and figures, combine them with your sixth sense and make a choice. In many a situation, with all logic pointing to one direction, a hunch takes over and makes the illogical alternative […]

The Filthy Politics Competition (FPC) has ended in a draw for the year 2010 and thus the start of 2011 is even more cutthroat. So far, it has been the most evenly contested competition with each competitor continuously raising the bar and standards of splashing mud and dirt. Accusing and abusing, the creation of new […]