In Pakistan, the sun sets and rises in the west. Political meteorologists saw a waning sunset in US-Pak relations in the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) encyclical of 2017, issued during President Trump’s first tenure. They notice a false sunrise in his latest NSS paper, issued in November 2025. NSS of 2017 devoted a precious
The privatization of our national airline reminds one of the Greek legend of Penelope’s loom – a continuous exercise designed to tire suitors. Since PIA’s creation in 1955, its history has been a triumph of experience over hope. Initially, PIA took off with enviable success, under Air Marshal Nur Khan (MD 1959-65 and chairman 1973-79)
Piety, not punctuality, is the politeness of princes. And none was more pious than the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh (1615-1659). As the eldest son of the emperor Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh should have succeeded his father. However, Dara’s younger brother Muḥī al-Dīn Muḥammad (later the emperor Aurangzeb) practiced his own version of piety. His flexible
COMPARISONS can be odious, unless there is a justification. Consider these two examples. On Sept 30, 2025, President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth summoned almost 800 US generals, admirals and senior enlisted officers to the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The civilian duo harangued the uniformed, be-medalled corps — men and women,
The United Nations General Assembly functions as an air-pump: it inflates the egos of national leaders. The UNGA provides them a stage in New York where, (in Shakespeare’s words), they can ‘strut and fret,…full of sound and fury’,’ before an audience of 193 peer countries. In 1945, the United Nations was established by the survivors of
A SINGLE bullet often becomes a pivot in history: Sarajevo, Dallas, Los Angeles, Memphis, and now Utah. And nearer home, Rawalpindi in 1951, and again in 2007. At Sarajevo, a Serb student Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie on June 28, 1914. Within a month, World War I broke out.
NEGOTIATING on home ground yields a tactical advantage. Recent history offers some examples. Take the pre-World War II war meetings between Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938. Hitler ensured that the talks were held in Germany — in his mountain eyrie of Berchtesgaden, at Bad Godesberg on the Rhine, and in
Will there ever be peace on earth? Not in my lifetime. And not on this earth. World War II detonated in sequence: the Anschluss or annexation of Austria by Germany in March 1938; Germany’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939; or Hitler’s incursion (with Stalin’s support) into Poland in September 1939. World War III began
An optimist is one who believes in reincarnation. In that sense, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is the supreme optimist. The title Dalai Lama – Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama – was bestowed in 1578 by Altan Khan (a descendant of Kublai Khan and the first Shunyi King of Ming China), on his
