President Obama has spent the past several weeks conceptualizing a strategic partnership with Pakistan. Pakistan is being watched closely by the entire world, as the issues and concerns it faces affect the entire region and the world’s security. The government of Pakistan, with the full support of the people, is working to improve the [...]
As we prepare for American President Barack Obama’s announcement about changes to the US policy in Afghanistan, Mr. Shaan Akbar, international businessman and analyst, wrote a must-read post on blog The Insider Brief about the geopolitical realities that Pakistan faces. While his post is sure to be controversial in some quarters, it certainly merits reading [...]
Continuing to work towards his promises of increasing democracy, President Zardari stated that the 17th Amendment will be repealed in December, reports Dawn. President Asif Ali Zardari has said the 17th Amendment will be repealed next month. ‘We always wanted to do away with the 17th Amendment, but we wanted to do it through a unanimous decision [...]
ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari Friday night divested himself of the powers of Chairman National Command Authority and transferred the powers of Chairman to the elected Prime Minister. The shedding of powers of Chairman National Command Authority was effected through re-promulgation of National Command Authority Ordinance, 2009 and amending it also, Spokesperson to [...]
Recently, well known columnist Kamran Shafi (incidentally, not a PPP supporter) suggested in Dawn that the ISI have a civilian head. As evidence, Mr. Shafi points out that the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies are all civilian run. Also, though, there was the notion that democratic countries are headed by civilian, not military leaders. A strong national defense [...]
Respected Pakistani economist and author of several books, Shahid Javed Burki, addresses the return of corruption to the headlines, and makes some important points for consideration, as well as informed suggestions for which we might effectively work to eliminate corruption in the government and civil service. The good news is that Pakistan has improved considerably [...]
by Sadiq Saleem Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official visit to the United States should have been the major story in Pakistan’s media. But our right-wing anchors and columnists and “get-Zardari” editors are far more focused on the domestic power struggles to realize that the nightmare of Pakistan’s strategic encirclement may already be on the [...]
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Nadeem Paracha follows up on his appearance in the New York Times in which he asked why Pakistan’s middle class youth – educated and westernized as they are – are more attracted to anti-Americanism than anti-Taliban? Paracha’s latest column in Dawn picks up where he left off in his original critique of Pakistan’s pop-music stars, [...]
There is a fight raging for the heart and soul of our great nation. This fight is being borne out in the streets and markets of FATA and South Waziristan; it’s being fought in the halls of power in Islamabad; it’s being fought in the schools and madrassas; it’s being fought on the airwaves and [...]