Anonymous Thailand’s parliamentary elections on December 23 provided fresh evidence (if evidence is still needed) of the futility of military intervention as a means of changing the fundamental political trends of a nation. The Economist recently referred to Thailand as “Southeast Asia’s Pakistan.” The fundamental problem in both countries is the same: an overbearing military, […]

Adil Najam I saw Charlie Wilson’s War, the movie featuring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, today. Long-time readers of this blog know that I am a huge fan of the book by the same name on which movie is based. I enjoyed the movie… a lot. Judging by their reactions and response so did most […]

Adil Najam The Emergency that Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf had imposed on November 3 was technically lifted today. The operative word there is ‘technically.’ Pakistan, Pakistanis and Pakistani politics were already in a very troubled state when the emergency was imposed and it is in a far worse condition now. Only someone who has totally missed […]