Attending summer school at the University of Oslo, I had the opportunity to witness Norway in its grief and resilience first hand over the last week. In solidarity, I joined the flower march attended by some two hundred...
Read MoreProspects are not bright for Dr. Manmohan Singh traveling to Islamabad on Mr. Gilani’s invitation extended at Mohali during the latest spot of ‘cricket diplomacy’. The foreign secretaries are to meet this week to set the stage...
Read MoreThat Pakistan is too important a state to be allowed to fail is long acknowledged. For the US, its strategic location and being the locus of ‘terror’ lend it significance. For China, it is useful for tying down India. For India,...
Read MoreSuperficially, it would appear that Kashmir is at the ‘core’ of the problem between the two states, India and Pakistan. Other candidate areas of lesser significance figure in the basket of issues tackled earlier by the...
Read MoreAfter the Thimpu talks between the two foreign secretaries, India and Pakistan stand at yet another beginning. As in the middle of last year, there is little indication that this time it the real thing. The earlier two...
Read MoreThe revolution in Tunisia, with ripple effects in Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon, has placed authoritarian regimes across the Muslim world on notice. On the face of it, Pakistan, having a democracy, albeit with a guardian military,...
Read MoreThat Pakistan is ‘hedging’ is now official. It has been resisting both pressures and incentives to ‘do more’ in the war on terror. Observers with empathy realize it has little choice. The Pakistan Army cannot clean up the...
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Talks need to be taken more seriously, with the US reaching out directly to the Taliban.
Read MoreWhile the military escalation is set to occur, pre-emption of the worst case possibility must be the focus. Keeping Pakistan on an even keel is a strategic necessity, since it is on the frontline.
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The meeting in Washington DC on nuclear security indicates the concern with the fallout of Bush’s Global War on Terror. It can reasonably have been expected that such a threat should have receded. Instead, the threat exists. This article discusses how the perceived threat can be made to recede further through ending sensibly what Bush began.
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