Tracks that bring us home on May 10, 2019Blessed are the tracks that bring us home, in spite of thick fog and smog, turbulent winds, shifting sands, darkness spreading around though it is not night yet, sun not shining for days, spreading doom and gloom. Oh, where is my home? Memory fails to recall, where did I park my car? God, I had […]
Seeking modernity — a case study on May 7, 2019In the autumn of 1867, Okubo Toshimichi, a leading courtier of the feudal Japanese Satsuma domain, traveled from the capital of Edo, now Tokyo, to the regional city of Yamaguchi. On October 14 he met with leaders of the choshu domain. He had a simple proposal: they would join forces, march their armies to Edo, […]
Public relations and freedom of expression on May 1, 2019Democratic norms and procedures have to be adopted and adapted as a new culture of cooperation and conciliation. Political parties have to develop and follow code of ethics, particularly to build positive image of Pakistan. Competitiveness in politics is essential. Leaders must understand the gravity of challenges Pakistan faces, specially economic and governance crisis and […]
Walking with Lincoln (a book review) on April 24, 2019Thoughts and reflection of great men like Abraham Lincoln, serve as a great inspiration for anyone, specially diplomats and political leaders, parliamentarians and judges responsible for delivering fairness and justice. Walking with Lincoln is an interesting book by Thomas Freiling, who writes on spiritual strength from America’s favorite president. Thomas Freiling served on the staff […]
Wishing for a return to smiles and cheers on April 22, 2019Being next-door neighbours, India and Pakistan cannot remain aloof. This has been famously reiterated recently by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi but is the fact not known to us all? Whoever is up to something good should be an example for others to follow. We should not shy away from speaking out against deceit, prejudice, […]
Thailand — government and politics on April 14, 2019Thailand is a kingdom in which the form of government is constitutional monarchy. The sovereign powers belonging to the people, whereas the King is the supreme head of state, exercising the sovereign powers through the National Assembly, the Cabinet and the Courts. Basically, the form of Thai government is similar to that of the British […]
Japan – a case study of war and peace on April 7, 2019Returned to Tokyo (on Monday, March 25, 2019) after a five days trip to Kyoto and Nora, the ancient capital of Japan. There is a lot of sightseeing in all the places we visited, including temples and shrines, castles, museums, theatres, cultural centres, parks and gardens et cetera. Former imperial villa, NIJO castle, is a […]
Open society as a shared value on April 4, 2019Both politics and international relations are based on sovereignty of the state. International relations basically govern the relations between states. Within the states, the sovereign power belongs to the state except to the extent that the state has abdicated or delegated sovereignty by international treaty. The arrangements governing relations between states are far from adequate, […]
When China rules the world-a book review on March 31, 2019In his researched and far-reaching book when China rules the world published in the United States of America in 2009, Martin Jacques argues that we have only barely begun to understand what life will be like when China rules the world. Being modern is not necessarily being Western. Based on his extensive research work focused […]
A note for prime minister Imran Khan on March 24, 2019A failure to find solutions to problems is essentially a failure to objectively analyse the situation on the ground. It is a failure to identify factors which could have caused the problem. What makes problems more complex include oversimplification in explaining a phenomeon, using hidden agenda, lack of sensitivity to very critical situations, mismanagement and […]