Pakistan’s Tax Puzzle: Collecting More from the Same Few
Benjamin Franklin once wrote that nothing in this world is certain except death and taxes. In Pakistan, we might add a third certainty: the same people will always…
The Public Purview
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Who Shall Hold the Reins of the Future?
Let us suppose that, one morning, the world awakens to the announcement that artificial intelligence has successfully passed every examination by which mankind has…
WHO REALLY WANTS THE WAKHAN CORRIDOR
Beyond the rumours of annexation lies a larger question: can Pakistan turn geography into opportunity without turning a neighbour’s territory into a battlefield of…
Nobody Ordered This Thesis
Our universities inspect research with great care. They rarely ask who is waiting for it. Ask final-semester MPhil students who will read their theses,…
Gulf security realities
The publication of the full text of the trilateral defence agreement signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye has finally brought much-needed clarity to…
THE POPULIST CHALLENGE TO DEMOCRACY
Democracy often erodes gradually, as public frustration deepens, political divisions harden and institutions lose their capacity to restrain those in power. Populism gains ground…
Emerging Regional Alliances: Pakistan’s Strategic Role in a Changing Middle East
The changing geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and rising regional tensions have paved the way for new defence partnerships and diplomatic realignments. Growing…
When Dignity Transcends Politics
In the National Assembly of Pakistan, where representatives from diverse regions and political parties assemble to debate the affairs of the state, disagreements are…
Russia to Iran, Pakistan to India: A New Test of Regional Leverage
Peace remains an incomplete process when those possessing the authority to prevent it refuse to do so. The geopolitical tensions initially centred on Iran,…
PAKISTAN’S DUAL CRISIS: FRAGILE ECONOMIC STABILITY MEETS POLITICAL TURMOIL
□Defend the Homeland. Develop the People. Discipline Public Expenditure□ BāBā-Tāl is already at the Eyrie when I arrive. A steaming mug rests between his…
Fixing the tax system
Meaningful reform of Pakistan’s tax administration has remained an elusive goal for decades. Successive governments have announced ambitious plans to modernise the Federal Board…
The Baku Equation: Ankara, Tel Aviv and the Search for Regional Equilibrium
The chemistry of a chemical reaction teaches us that reactants and products do not always reach equilibrium without the right conditions. In some reactions,…
Capital Punishment and the Questions of Diplomacy
A State’s commitment to the rule of law is tested not simply by its willingness to punish those found guilty of an offence, but…
Fragile pathways
The political temperature in Pakistan has risen sharply following the federal government’s decision to place Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under governor’s rule and emergency administration. The…
France: The Crisis of Economic Inequality
To apprehend the deeper disquiet of a society, it is not invariably sufficient to examine the deliberations of its governing chambers, the proceedings of…
BENEATH THE RUBBLE: A NATIONAL RECKONING FOR SCHOOL SAFETY
On the morning of October 15, parents in Peshawar sent their children to school with the simple, unquestioned hope that they would return home…
France and the Enduring Politics of Protest
Nations are shaped not only by their institutions and constitutions but also by historical experiences that leave a lasting imprint on the collective mind.…