It is a fact that we talk to AI systems every day in some capacity, at some level and it is also a fact that most of us still misunderstand what happens on the other side of the screen. The confusion is justified and needs to be addressed through some elaboration in the least technical […]
Tourism — A Case for Inclusive Management
Pakistan projects its north as a success story. The claim to fame is primarily based on the burgeoning number of tourists every year. What nobody points out aloud is that growth is outpacing governance faster than expected. The 18th Constitutional Amendment had devolved tourism to provinces, each with its own legal framework, including regulation. However, […]
My Take — Careers & Job Markets
Every year the statistics get grimmer worldwide, as graduates send out hundreds of applications to employers and hear nothing back. Entry-level postings keep asking for experience, and job seekers keep emphasising in interviews that only a job can impart the requisite experience; the chicken-or-egg analogy at work. Companies discontinue or replace roles citing rightsizing or […]
Another Pole — A New Reality
America’s worst-case planning assumption worked out during the last two to three decades, for a perceived global order is no longer valid post-war; it is a reality in motion now. Central to this assumption was the eventuality of Iran, Russia, and China acting en bloc. Not war-gamed in its true essence, the USA now finds […]
The Energy Pool Next Door
The fall out of recent Iran – USA Israel war exposed, with shocking precision, how vulnerable Pakistan remains to disruptions in sea-borne energy supplies. Pakistan’s monthly fuel import bill nearly doubled, overnight when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia had to step in as an emergency supplier for Pakistan which had no fallback […]
War and AI — Reshaping Human Behaviour
The collapse of the post-Cold War world order is not simply a military or geopolitical event. It also signals the breakdown of a social contract that humanity had started rebuilding post-WWII. It got depreciated with the Vietnam War, the Arab-Israel Wars of 67 and 73, Indo-Pak Wars of 65 and 71, the Soviet invasion of […]
75 Years of Pak-China Ties and CPEC
Pakistan was among the first countries to recognise the People’s Republic of China in 1950, at a time when Beijing remained diplomatically isolated from most of the world. Diplomatic relations were established on 21 May 1951. That early recognition was more of a foreign policy choice than an economic calculation, shaped by geography and Islamabad’s […]
The Bernie Sanders Report
AI and robotics will transform the world and will bring unimaginable changes to the global economy, politics, warfare, foreign policy, emotional well-being, environment, and how we educate and raise our children. Through his report presented to Congress a few months back, on AI, US Senator Bernie Sanders has unboxed a sour issue. The report is […]
From Causes to Effects
Pakistan finds itself at the centre stage of world politics; it brokered a cease-fire, hosted the peace talks, and its leaders shuttled between world capitals to bring the region and the world to peace. Pakistan finds itself being squeezed by the USA on one side and simultaneously by the consequences of this war on the […]
Reality Etched All Over
The snapshot, on the sixtieth day of the USA-Iran war, clearly shows where the focus is and where the priorities lie that are to shape the ceasefire, which already is fragile and at the cusp of triggering another phase of hostilities. What has been happening in Washington and what has been happening in Islamabad has […]