The writer is Professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore
Debates among political scientists and policy thinkers over whether dictatorship can be more effective than democracy in ethnically and...
A year-end assessment of the state of democracy in Pakistan
F reedom — that luminous word around which modern civilisation revolves — has become, in our age, a beautifully crafted illusion. We...
W ords do political work. The repeated deployment of charged epithets like kafir , ghaddar and the generic tag of security threat function...
T he political evolution of underdeveloped polities has been persistently obstructed by the refusal of their leaders to relinquish power at...
To talk of Iqbal’s affirmation of the self, his khud , under the long shadow of colonialism, is to speak of a metaphysics of resistance,...
In recent years, a familiar narrative has resurfaced across the political landscape of countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar and several nations in...
Prof Razi Abedi, one of Pakistan’s most distinguished literary minds and a towering humanist, has passed away at the remarkable age of 93. With...
O ath-taking signifies a solemn pledge or appeal to divinity. It has long been a familiar expression of truth, loyalty and moral obligation....
Donald Trump’s rise to political power and his presidency represent a profound disruption of traditional models of leadership. His campaign...
“His behavior… is completely solipsistic. He sees the world through his own sense of self… and he couldn’t be more erratic or scattered or...
Hannah Arendt’s insight into the psychology of obedience finds deep resonance—and some challenge—in the work of social psychologists who have...
T he measure of a civilisation is not the expanse of its empires, the height of its monuments or the sophistication of its technology....
Human history is full of formal pledges to equality, rights and rule of law. However, the lived reality has typically been the opposite: exceptions,...
Hamas is being read largely from the prism of Israel . Historical context that enabled the rise of Hamas is starkly missing when those sitting in...
W ho really shaped the way you think? The story begins with Edward Bernays, Freud’s nephew and the master craftsman of persuasion. Bernays...
Has democracy exhausted its potential? That uncomfortable question haunts political thinkers across the world today. What was once celebrated as the...
It apparently began with disagreement over a perk. Lawmakers in Jakarta, already widely distrusted, had approved a new monthly housing allowance —...
I n the early 17th Century, as monsoon waters swelled the Chenab River, the city of Multan faced a flood that could have wiped it from the...
