Doctrine, Policy, and Strategy: Combating sexual assault in the land of the pure!on September 28, 2020Pakistan has been plagued with child abuse, rape and sexual assault cases for years and yet nothing much of substance has been done to curtail this social degeneration! The recent episode being the rape of a woman driving late at night with her three children from Lahore to Gujranwala. Her car ran out of fuel […]
Doctrine, policy, and strategy UAE, Israel deal — national interests trump all?on September 10, 2020“An incomparably exciting moment”; “game-changer”; “deal of the century”; “historic”; “betrayal” – there is no shortage of labels for the recently announced UAE – Israeli deal! As far as caution goes, it has been thrown to the wind; i.e. this pact will fully normalise relationships between the two countries. While there may be many reasons […]
Doctrine, policy, and strategy: COVID-19 – litmus test for policy of agility?on August 5, 2020Empty shelves in supermarkets, fights over basic commodities such as toilet rolls, absence of rudimentary hygiene products like antibacterial soaps and hand sanitisers, hoarding of non-perishable food items, unavailability of dairy produce and mile long queues to enter shops. These are not clips from a post-apocalyptic Hollywood flick! But some harrowing scenes witnessed at the […]
Doctrine, policy, and strategy: pilot licensing fiasco – a failure of policy!on July 15, 2020Imagine this: flying at a cruising altitude of 38000 feet, going through dinner, anticipating a pleasant journey ahead and still having a niggling thought in the back of your head saying, “I wonder if the pilot is qualified to fly this plane”! From now, this is what will happen to any passenger travelling in an […]
Doctrine, Policy, And Strategy: In search of national identity — are we all now Ertugruls?on June 22, 2020Dirili?: Ertu?rul, the Turkish drama revolving around the father of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, has become hugely popular – especially in Pakistan. Although it was already gaining traction internationally but since Imran Khan – the Pakistani Prime Minister – mentioned it as recommended viewing, its graph has skyrocketed! Historically very little is known […]
Doctrine, Policy, And Strategy: Narrative building is crucial for a policy to succeedon May 29, 2020Daniel Kahneman – author of Thinking, Fast and Slow – says, “a compelling narrative fosters an illusion of inevitability”. Dwell on this for a moment – if a narrative is persuasive enough, it is bound to be taken as the truth regardless of fact! Now, look around you and see how many narratives are being […]
Doctrine, policy, and strategy: COVID-19 fallout — An enhanced new normal!on May 9, 2020During peak holiday period, a person visiting a mega mall surprisingly finds a lot of empty areas, lesser people in the food court, enough space on the elevators and almost empty shops with nearly a third less people than expected. This is how the near future will look like after the Coronavirus pandemic! The English […]
Doctrine, policy, and strategy: Covid-19 and lessons in business policy formulationon May 2, 2020Over 3,000,000 cases and the number still grows. Over 200,000 deaths and the number still grows. Over 1,000 daily losses and the number still grows. 1 in 5 businesses at the risk of collapse and big names such as Debenhams, Laura Ashley, Carluccio’s, Flybe, Virgin Australia have gone into administration and – harrowingly – the […]
Misplaced policy of isolationism in times of Coronavirus!on April 6, 2020The world is reeling from the current Coronavirus pandemic! It is the single most deadly infection in recent memory and has the potential to become the deadliest in history. Governments are scurrying left, right and centre to find a solution and keep their population safe. Word wide infections and deaths are expected to rise exponentially […]
Doctrine, Policy, And Strategy: give a monster a cookie and it will want a glass of milk!on March 10, 2020Sesame Street is a children’s educational programme and has served generations. One of the most famous muppets on this long-running show is the Cookie Monster who is best known for its voracious appetite and for eating almost anything, including inedible objects! After finishing off everything, it still wants more. Thus, if you give a monster […]