Publications

Society

Redesign

At a recent conference, I took the opportunity during my remarks to posit the term ‘redesign’ as a discursive element that should inform our engagement with society. This differs from the standard refrain of ‘reform’ that many economists and policy pundits employ. Reform is a standard-issue term that is useful insofar as it points to reshaping or remedying existing deficiencies, and it is also a term that duly denotes criticism of existing failures. However, there are five shortcomings of reform that are instead better captured by ‘redesign’ and can thus be framed as the ‘advantages of a redesign approach.’
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November 23, 2023
Aerospace

Starry-Eyed Youth

A recent large-scale space-related tournament known as the NASA 2023 Space Apps Challenge took place amid great fanfare around the world, and what was most exciting about the space-technology competition was the significant contingent of youth teams from Pakistan. Their enthusiasm for participating in the global tournament, and for solving complex spatial challenges set out by NASA, brimmed with promise and gave a unique insight into the vast potential for scientific engagement by Pakistan’s youth.
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November 20, 2023
Emerging technologies

Balancing Pakistan’s National Security and LAWS: Need for a Pragmatic Approach

Robust advancements within conventional weapons technology and amalgamation with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have led to the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS), also known as ‘Killer Robots.’ Distinct from other conventional weapons, they integrate the element of autonomy in their critical functions. LAWS autonomously perform critical tasks such as navigation, identification, tracking, and targeting using sensors and algorithms, without human control.
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November 16, 2023
Afghanistan

Homeward to Afghanistan

If one were to take a look at social media such as Twitter (X), one might get the impression that Pakistanis are somewhat opposed to the repatriation of the Afghan migrants, but is this really true? A snap poll conducted by Gallup, an independent survey body, gives much weight to the contrary, with more than 84% of Pakistanis polled stating that they are vigorously in favor of the repatriation of Afghans back to their country.
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November 15, 2023
Warfare

Countering Information Warfare in the Cognitive Domain

Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military strategist, had long ago highlighted the significance of information warfare when he said, ‘all warfare is deception’. The term ‘Information Warfare’ entered military lexicon in the late ’70s, yet the strategy is as old as warfare itself. It has, however, continued to evolve with technological advancements.
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November 13, 2023
Population Growth

Mitigating Pakistan’s Population Challenges

Water, Education, Economy and Population (WEEP) are critical issues that have far-reaching effects on any country. Each element of WEEP has an over-arching impact on every stratum of society which in turn influences the security of a state. These elements determine the quality of life of the nation, that’s why all of their parameters must be monitored continuously by concerned stakeholders. Inadequacies in any of these can be detrimental to the National Security of a state. Unfortunately, Pakistan is confronted with acute challenges in each domain of WEEP.
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November 10, 2023
International Relations

Is the US still Vulnerable to Global Oil Price Shocks?

On 19th October, 1973, immediately following the Nixon administration’s affirmation of a USD 2.2 billion military aid package to Israel in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War, the Arab states responded by imposing an oil embargo on nations supportive of Israel. The resultant oil price shock was so grave that in the United States, gasoline prices increased by up to 40 percent in a matter of months, leading to rationing of fuel resources, the formation of hours-long lines at gas stations across the country, and polarisation of politics at home.

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November 10, 2023
Palestine

Paradox of Victory: Weighing the Strategic Costs of Tactical Surprise in Gaza

It is a genocide by all definitions. As of 6th November, Reuters, New York Times, AP News and New Arab news website have quoted the Ministry of Health in Gaza. According to these sources, a total of 10,022 Palestinians, including 4800 children and 2550 women have been killed and 25,408 wounded by the Israel’s indiscriminate aerial bombardment of Gaza. In contrast, Israeli death toll stands at 1400.
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November 10, 2023
Economic Affairs & National Development

India’s Turn At the FATF

The saga of Pakistan and the FATF is one that I have written about extensively, having been an ardent contributor and advocate for the strategy that led to the country’s ultimately successful exit from the dreaded gray-list. The crux of that strategy involved a twofold approach: (1) improving financial oversight, legal frameworks, and institutional coordination for the intrinsic benefit to the financial regime, but also (2) calling out the deeply-politicized and corrupt agenda of the FATF as a transboundary body run amok. This dual-approach yielded excellent results for Pakistan, and incidentally, the agent-provocateur of that tussle with the FATF is now up for a similar review.
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November 7, 2023
Palestine

Israel-Palestine Conflict in an Age of Information and Disinformation

Israel-Palestine conflict has been the lynchpin of Middle Eastern dynamics for more than several decades. While tensions never truly subsided between the warring sides, the protracted conflict has often taken a back seat, overshadowed by other global crises such as the invasion of Crimea, onset of the Pandemic, and the Russian-Ukraine war, etc. However, the recent heartbreaking hostilities that have transpired since 7th October have made it global headline news.
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November 6, 2023
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