Venezuela is back in the international news cycle courtesy of a long-running interventionist script that is played on the world stage year on year and decade after decade. The foreword changes from the global war on terror and search for weapons of mass destruction to sanctioning countries to facilitate democracy for the sake of the […]
From Normandy to Bondi
On morning of June 6, 1944, the beaches of Normandy witnessed one of history’s massive military operations. Thousands of Allied soldiers stormed the French coast under heavy fire, as part of a landing force. It was war in its most recognisable form: states fighting states, armies confronting armies, territories to be seized, territories to be […]
Psychology of Misinformation
In today’s world, it is no longer the lack of information that troubles us, but the overwhelming flood of it. Our phones buzz with alerts before we even wake up; breaking news arrives before we have taken our first sip of morning tea. Headlines scream for attention, social media timelines overflow with opinions disguised as […]
The Globalisation of Grief
Grief has always been a private emotion. It once belonged to families, to neighbourhoods, to communities; those after burial sat together and held one another through loss. The world has changed. Grief is no longer confined to homes, funeral services and cemeteries. It now circulates across borders, screens, and languages. It has become a global […]
Working to Co-Working – The Great Shift
The idea of work in Pakistan remained fixated on “fixed” for decades: fixed office, a fixed desk, fixed timing and a fixed sense of hierarchy. Work culture in cities like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad grew around these assumptions. Entire lifestyles were shaped by the commute from home to office, by the boss who sat in […]
AI-Driven New Age Power Cartography
Throughout modern history, power has been defined and displayed on maps with borders drawn and redrawn by wars, trade routes, and political treaties. For centuries, the world order depended on these well-demarcated frontiers, fiercely guarded by natural barriers and military might. However, today, we stand at a crossroads where the age of visible borders is […]
Iqbal’s Modern Day Nation-State
Allama Muhammad Iqbal emerged as a major Muslim thinker on nationhood during a period of profound political and intellectual upheaval in British India, when the Western concept of the territorial nation-state was becoming a norm and anti-colonial movements embraced nationalism. For Iqbal, however, nationhood could not be reduced to territory, race, ethnicity or language. His […]
A Case for Moral Diplomacy
The Gaza War has done more than destroy buildings; it has shattered illusions. For decades the world has been told that international law protects civilians, that human rights are universal, and that the global order rests on justice, but in the unfolding of this conflict those assurances have been mauled and erased. Images of children […]
Spoils of War, Up for Grabs
The trade war between the United States and China emerged as one of the most consequential geopolitical and economic confrontations of the twenty-first century, reshaping global commerce, supply chains, and macroeconomic policy-making. It did not happen suddenly; tensions had been simmering for years as Washington accused Beijing of unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, forced […]
Thaw to Awe
In a year crowded with diplomatic pivots across South Asia, few have been as striking, or as swiftly consequential, as the recent thaw in relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh. The region long defined by pain frozen in times and wary neighbours, this thaw stands out as South Asia’s big surprise. It has driven the two […]