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Governance

27
Mar
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Pakistan: Security Challenges and the Hard State Dilemma

Pakistan’s security situation has long evolved as a consequence of the complex intersection of multiple factors, including geopolitical dilemmas, internal dissension, and history. The recently suggested notion of Pakistan being a hard state—one that prioritises security over other aspects of governance and socio-economic development—is being widely debated in drawing rooms, a select few editorials and op-eds, and YouTube vlogs.
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25
Mar
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Politicisation of Pakistan’s Civil Awards: Honor or Political Gimmick?

The conferral of civil awards in Pakistan has always been a subject of debate, but the investiture ceremony held on March 23, 2025, under President Asif Ali Zardari has sparked particularly intense discussions. This year, the inclusion of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), as a posthumous recipient of the Nishan-e-Pakistan, has led to accusations of political favoritism, while the recognition of certain journalists has further ignited controversy.
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03
Apr
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Is Deporting Afghan Refugees Enough for Pakistan’s Security?

Salman Lali, a Contributing Fellow at CommandEleven, joined Yasmeen Ali to discuss the implications and complications that will arise from deporting Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan. Salman spoke in detail about the security and humanitarian concerns that will develop as a result of the Government of Pakistan’s decision to re-start the deportment of Afghans from Pakistan, even if they have a valid Afghan Refugee card.
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01
Apr
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A Journey Towards Informed Solutions

Alas, the dream remained just that—a dream, never realized. The first decade ushered in a plethora of challenges: the Kashmir war, the Constituent Assembly’s failure to draft a constitution, the tragic demise of Pakistan’s founder and first Governor General, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in a broken ambulance en route from Karachi Airport, and the assassination of the inaugural Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, in Rawalpindi.
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14
Mar
By

Method to Madness or Just Simply Mad

A lot has been written about the present environment in the country and even more has been debated around the pulls and pushes of a political conflict that is going nowhere. A conflict that is recognised to be one between a coalition of tainted people, rejected by the populous, dubious, corrupt characters – each with a skeleton in their respective cupboard standing against the one single largest popular party within the country that insists that it was removed from power by deceit, fraud and treachery. It’s this Coalition versus the people
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27
Jan
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The Techocrat Thought

A few days ago, I released an article, which will be published shortly in a couple of magazines. One of the recommendations in the article related to a ‘technocrat government’, a concept that I have been advocating of and on since quite a while now. Having read the article, Haider Raza Mehdi, a journalist and analyst, was highly critical of my suggestions.
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21
Jan
By

The Art of Statecraft

Pakistan, a unique State that came into existence in 1947 and ever since then has remained in search of a national identity. The justification for demanding and then acquiring a separate homeland is vehemently supported by the ‘two nation theory’. That is usually explained as that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations and could never live together.
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13
Nov
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Entrapped

Indeed, even this benevolent soul who with the passage of time fell for his abductor, did not voluntarily stroll into the net. The hunters, like the commanders on the battlefield, go great lengths to persuade their game walk into the killing zone. It’s quite a feat, and some of us obviously like to claim credit – even if the prey got into trouble without our help.
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