Chasing democracy on June 19, 2018Pakistan’s democratic project has not developed as desired. The reason for this failure has been the inability to evolve an appropriate constitution, meaning one that is in sync with the popular aspirations and needs of our community. Where did we go wrong? Was it the early death of our Quaid that derailed this project? Perhaps […]
Gray-zone warfare and Sino-US rivalry on June 10, 2018Asymmetric warfare was a precursor to gray-zone warfare. It was a concept that had its origins in antiquity when a weaker adversary usually challenged a superior adversary through tactics and stratagems that rendered the superior adversary’s strength irrelevant. The classic duel between David and Goliath is emblematic of asymmetric tactics when a mechanically savvy David […]
Securitising water on June 4, 2018Securitisation is an International Relations term that means conferring a special status on a subject by the state because of a looming threat of clear and present danger to the national security. The term that was coined by the famous International Relations theorist Ole Weaver has generally been used to indicate the importance of a […]
Technical education, industrial development and Pakistan on May 30, 2018Technology and progress have become synonymous in this new world driven by the advancements in science and technology. Other than engineers there are technologists, technicians, and skilled workers who are bearing the brunt of the frenetic pace at which the new challenges on the technological fields are emerging. While China leads the world now in […]
The unfinished war on May 21, 2018The conflict engulfing us all is fratricidal and heartrending. A curious mélange of faith based rage, ethnic particularism, crime fest, and externally abetted terrorism has started taking a heavy toll on our human as well material resources. Despite protestations to the contrary, the ugly fact remains that our terrorism issue has refused to die. With […]
The wars we ignore on May 14, 2018Nations have been fighting ridiculous wars for ages. Some have been so absurd they have bordered on pure hilarity. One such conflict was the War of Jenkin’s Ear, caused by a display of a rotting piece of British mariner’s ear in British Parliament. The sailor had claimed that the Spanish coast guards had sliced off […]
The red badge of courage on May 8, 2018The ongoing war being fought by our soldiers, policemen and military officers on the jagged stony wastes of Balochistan and the hills of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)is the longest in this country’s history. Beginning in 2002 with a simmer in the Waziristan region, these low intensity conflicts have entrenched […]
Our Malthusian spectre on May 1, 2018The Malthusian prognostications made around the time of the industrial revolution about impending food crises that would take place because of a population explosion were initially staved off because of a technological revolution, wherein mechanised farming came to mankind’s rescue. However, we might not be so lucky in our neck of the woods because of […]
Hybrid war and democracy on April 23, 2018The term hybrid warfare refers to a non-linear conflict, where the state actors in addition to kinetic or military forces employ non-kinetic means like cyber-attacks, politico-economic subversion, psychological warfare, and diplomatic pressure to bring an adversary to heel. Williamson Murray elucidates the concept of Hybrid Warfare in his very readable book Hybrid Warfare: Fighting complex […]
The impending energy crisis on April 16, 2018The above quote embodies a raw truth that drives economies and societies in this post-industrial era. An era where nothing functions without electricity. Fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas plus renewables like solar, wind, biogases, and hydel energy form part of our national energy mix that fuels our power generation. Along with nuclear power […]