1) Demo

a) "Justice delayed is justice denied." [William E. Gladstone] "Justice hurried is justice buried." b) "Diplomacy is a game of chess in
which nations are checkmated." [Karl Kraus] c)"America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests." [Henry Kissinger]
d) "Democracy means the opportunity to be everyone's slave." [Karl Kraus] e) 'Sovereignty is the supreme power of the state'.-
Aristotle 2) Corruption
a) "The biggest disease is corruption. The vaccine is transparency b) "Corruption is like a snow which melts from the top."--
Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah c) Global Competitiveness Index identifies corruption as 3rd biggest problem detriment for business
companies in Pakistan after bureaucracy and poor infrastructure. [WEF]
3) Covid: A cumulative GDP loss of $11.8Bn and $11.1Bn under slow & fast recovery scenarios respectively by Dec 2020.
4) Floods
a) Post-disaster needs assessment indicate $14.9Bn of damages and $15.2Bn of economic losses. Estimated needs for rehabilitation
and reconstruction in a resilient way are at least $16.3 Bn. [World Bank]
5) Russia-Ukraine War
a) The estimates indicate that the war has cost Pakistan 1% of its economic growth
6) FATF: Accumulative financial losses of $40Bn from 2018 to Oct 21, 2022. [President FPCCI Irfan Iqbal Shaikh]
7) Brain Drain
a) In 2021, about 225,000 Pakistanis left the country; but the number nearly tripled to 765,000 in 2022, including 92,000 of highly
educated professionals.
b) A staggering 800,000 Pakistanis left the country in the first half of 2023, with at least 100,000 of them being skilled professionals.
c)more than 13.53 m had left the country over 50 countries by April 2024, second largest in south asia for high emigration rate.
8) Economy
a) CAD stood at $131 m in FY2023-24, of GDP 0.20%, $374.6bn, percaita $1587 [State Bank of Pakistan]
c) Pakistan has availed IMF handouts 25times during the span of years.
d) Trade deficit $1.5bn 2024. exports; $2.5-2.8 bn, imports; $4.5-4.9 bn, foreign remittances $2.8-3.3 bn.
e) Pakistan loses $10Bn/y to money launder. [US State Department 2018]
f) More than 40% of Pakistan's GDP comes form the informal sector. [Pakistan Ministry of Finance]
g) Interest rate reached all-time high of 22.91% in Jun 2023, and currently standing at 13%.
h) Inflation rate reached all-time high of 23.41% in 2023,
i) labor force employed 71.76m, 67.25m unemployed . [ILO Report 2024]
k) The top risk for Pakistan according to Global Risk Report 2022 is the Debt Crisis. [World Economic Forum]
9) Information Technology
a) IT Exports of $3.5 Bn in FY2024 [ESP 2022]
b) With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30%, IT sector grew over 178% during the last five years.
10) Population
The Population of Pakistan reaches 241.49 million as the Digital Census 2023 concludes. It was 207.68 million in 2017 Census. b)
Pakistan's population is projected to reach 403M by 2050 if the current growth rate continues unchecked. [UNFPA 2023]
c) Nov 15, 2022 marked the Day of Eight Billion. UN estimates the population will reach to 11.2 Bn by 2100.
d) Pakistan has one of the world's youngest populations, as 64% is under 30, and 29% are between 15 and 29. [UNDP NHDS]
e) Pakistan is host to 1.3M registered Afghan refugees while another 0.84M hold Citizenship Cards that give them some protection.
A further 1.5M are undocumented, including some 0.7M who arrived following Taliban takeover. (UNHCR)
f) Labour force was 73.78 M in Pakistan. [UNDP 2021]
g) Only 34% of children under five are registered at birth nationally in Pakistan. [UNICEF 2022]
h) About 3.3M children are engaged in child labour in Pakistan. [UNICEF Report 2022]
11) Bretton Woods Institutions
a) "The IMF is the International Mafia Federation. They're the loan-sharks of last resort." [Gerald Celente]
b) Globalization is a fact, because of technology, because of an integrated global supply chain, because of changes in transportation.
And we're not going to be able to build a wall around that. [Barack Obama]
12) Education
a) "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."- Nelson Mandela
b) "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."- Benjamin Franklin.
c) "Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think."- Albert Einstein
d) "Educating the mind without Educating the heart is no education at all." - Aristotle
e) Gender-wise, boys outnumber girls at every stage of education. [UNICEF 2022]
f) An estimated 22.8M children aged 5-16 are out-of-school. [UNICEF 2022]
g) 73% of crimes are stemmed by failure of family as a social institution; and second reason is education. [UNESCO] h) It is estimated
that 24 million people in Pakistan are in need of psychiatric assistance. [WHO]
i) Floods destroyed more than 26,600 schools nationwide, disrupting schooling of 3.5M children. [UNICEF]
13) Gender Equality
1) "Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppressions." [Nelson Mandelaj b)
"Women hold up half the sky." [Mao Zedong]
9) "Gender equality not only liberates women but also men from prescribed gender stereotypes." [Emma Watson]
d) "All violence is the illustration of a pathetic stereotype." [Barbara Kruger]
e) Women contribute to below 20% in national income and 22% in formal labour. [ILO 2022)
1) 11,500 mothers die in Pakistan during childbirth complications. [UNFPA 2022]
g) 32% of women in Pakistan have faced some form of GBV. [UNFPA 2023]
h) Over 90% of Pakistani women have faced domestic violence in their lifetime. [HRCP 2020]
j) Pakistani activists estimate that there are about 1,000 honour killing each year.
An average of 12 children per day were subjected to sexual abuse in Pakistan in 2023. [Islamabad-based NGOJ
k) Women have a high fertility rate of 3.8 children in Pakistan.
80-85% of medical students are women, but 35% of them are unemployed. [Gallup Pakistan & PRIDE]
m) Pakistan has nearly 19M child brides. [UNICEF 2023]
n) 11,500 mothers die in Pakistan during childbirth complications. [UNFPA)
o) A woman is raped in Pakistan every two hours while the conviction rate remained an abysmal 0.2%. [STVIU Survey]
14) Global Warming
a) Pakistan is the 8th most vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change according to Global Climate Risk Index 2022. b)
"When the well is dry, we know the worth of water." [Benjamin Franklin]
c) "Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it's common sense." [Ronald Reagan]
d) "Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here; it is happening now." [Barack Obama)
e) "Global warming is a reality and it is man-made." [Bjorn Lomborg]
f)Greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest levels in 2 million years. [United Nations]
g) Earth is now warming at a rate of more than 0.1°C (0.2°F) every decade. [NASA GISS]
h) "49M people in 43 countries one step away from famine." [António Guterres]
i)From 15 June to Oct 2022, floods in Pakistan killed 1,839 people, and caused $14.8B of damage and $15.2B of economic losses.
15) Youth Bulge of Pakistan 1) Introduction a) Thesis Statement: The demographic advantage Pakistan’s youthful population presents
a transformative opportunity for economic, social and political development, provided that the targeted investments in education,
healthcare and employment are made to empower and engage this burgeoning youth force.
2) Unboxing the term Youth Bulge: 58.7M population according to Labor Force Survey by Pakistan Board of Statistics 2020-21.
3) How can Pakistan’s Youth Bulge Drive Development a) Economic vitality through youthful workforce.
b) Innovation and entrepreneurship by the youth.
c) Healthier youth, reduced healthcare cost.
d) Ability to reshape politics.
e) Counter patriarchal tendencies and sexism.
f) Ability to ensure rule of law by opposing undemocratic trends in social strata.
g) Technology adoption in all spheres of life.
4) How the Potential of Youth Bulge can be Capitalized to Ensure Pakistan’s Development a) Quality education and skill
development. b) Promotion of gender equality. c) Youth engagement in decision making processes. d) Nurture innovation, support
young entrepreneurs. e) Ensure internal connectivity and literacy to provide level playing field. Conclusion.
16) Artificial Intelligence
a)"AI is likely to be either the best or worst thing to happen to humanity." [Stephen Hawking]
b) "Artificial intelligence will have a more profound impact on humanity than fire, electricity and the internet." [Sundar Pichai]
c) "AI is far more dangerous than nukes." [Elon Musk]
d) "Humans should be worried about the threat posed by artificial intelligence." [Bill Gates]
e) "The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do." [B. F. Skinner]
f) "The potential benefits of artificial intelligence are huge, so are the dangers." [Dave Waters]
g)Capital One breach in 2020 exposed personal data of over 100 million customers.
h) About 85M displacements by 2025, especially in routine-based industries. [WEF] 5.6M layoffs of manufacturing jobs in the US.
i) Experts estimate social media to be flooded with about 500,000 videos and voice deepfakes in 2023.
17) China Pakistan Economic Corridor
a) Estimated cost is $33.79 Bn in Energy sector, $5.9 Bn in Roads, $3.69 Bn in Railway, $1.6 Bn mass transit in Lahore, $0.66 Bn in
Gwadar Port and $0.04 Bn in China-Pakistan Fibre Optics; a total of $45.69 Bn.
b) As of Oct 2019, Belt Road I touches 138 countries with combined GDP of $29 Tr and some 4.6 Bn people.
18) Water Crisis
a) Around 1.2 billion people, 1/5th population, live in areas of physical scarcity of water.
b) Pakistan declared the third among the countries facing severe water shortage. [IMF]
c) Forests which accounted for 5% of nation's area, have dropped to only 2% owing to deforestation.
d) Pakistan is one of the most arid countries with a per capita water supply of 1,250 m3 per year, which is barely above international
standards regarding 1000 m3 supply per person per year as acute shortage.
19) Indices:
a) Pakistan ranked 145/146 2024 in Gender Parity Index. [World Economic Forum] b) Pakistan ranks 109/127 countries in Global
Hunger Index 2024. It ranked 99th in 2022 and 92nd in 2021. [CWW]
Pakistan ranked 109/157 countries in Global State of Democracy Index 2024. [Economic Intelligence Unit] Pakistan ranked 152/180
countries, 152th in Press Freedom Index 2024. [Reporters Without Borders]
e) Pakistan ranked 140/163 in Global Peace Index 2024. [Iinstitute of Economics and Peace] Pakistan ranked 140th out of 142
countries, 129th/142 in 2024 in Rule of Law Index. [The World Justice Project]
g) 91/133 in Global Innovation Index 2024. [World Intellectual Property Organ]
h) Pakistan ranked 164st out of 193 countries, in Human Development Index 2023-24. [UNDP]
i) Pakistan ranked 04th out of 93 countries Global Terrorism Index 2024. [Vision of Humanity]
j) Pakistan ranked 133rd out of 180 countries, 140th in 2022 and 124th in 2021, in Corruption Perceptions Index 2023. [TI]
Takeaways from Reference Books
“How Democracies Die” by Daniel, Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky (2018)
• Unwritten democratic norms of Mutual Tolerance and Institutional Forbearance serve as the soft
‘guardrails’ of democracy, preventing political competition from devolving into a no-holds-barred conflict.
• Democratic backsliding today begins at the ballot box, for democratic subversion is rather subtle and
imperceptible on electoral roads.
• Demagogues’ rise tends to polarize society and create a climate of hostility and mutual distrust. As
mutual toleration grows thin, politicians abandon forbearance. Some take office with a blueprint for
autocracy, while others assume an authoritarian character.
• Elected authoritarians consolidate power by capturing the referees, side-lining the key players and
rewriting the rules of the game. For would-be authoritarians and demagogues, judicial and law
enforcement agencies post both a challenge and an opportunity.
• Successful ‘gatekeeping’ by the prodemocratic political parties can keep antidemocratic forces at bay by
filtering out extremist affinities.
“What is Populism” by Jane-Werner Muller (2016)
• Populism, to the core, is “a moralized form of anti-pluralism,” which lacks “internal democracy”. Such
exclusionary politics (disregarding diversity altogether) is antithetical to democracy, and resembles
authoritarianism in sophisticated guise of democracy.
• Max Weber construes populists parties as “arenas for personality-driven micropolitics as opposed to a
forum for reasoned debate”.
• Three populist techniques for governing with impunity are: state colonization, mass clientelism and
discriminatory legalism.
• When it comes to counter the populist regimes, it all comes down to acknowledging the diversity of the
country.
“Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty” by Daron Acemoglu and
James A. Robinson (2012)
• Nature of political and economics institutions – inclusive or extractive – determine the fate of a nation.
• Extractive institutions revolve around absolutism, while inclusive institutions are an amalgamation of
pluralism and centralisation.
• Pluralistic and centralized political institutions lead the pecking order, setting the stage for inclusive
economic institutions.
• Critical junctures cannot necessarily “lead to a successful political revolution or to change for the better”.
• Virtuous Cycle: Inclusive institutions create positive feedback loops that preserves them in the face of
attempts at undermining them.
• Vicious Cycle: Extractive institutions create negative feedback loops that by using rampant power to gain
more power, control & wealth.
“How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region” by Joe Studwell
(2013)
• The north-east Asian nations have succeeded owing to their “good land policy, centred on egalitarian
household farming”.
• “Good policies that remain unchanged eventually turn into bad ones. (p.62)”
• The manufacturing phase “remains critical to the rapid economic transformation of poor countries”. In
order to “direct entrepreneurial talent towards manufacturing,” the state must nurture firms through
protection and subsidies, with a blend of export discipline.
• China’s Economic Success: Two things stand out under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping: land reforms to
encourage household farming and opening up to trade and foreign investment.
“The Nordic Model of Social Democracy” by Nik Brandal, Oivind Bratberg and Dag Einar
Thorsen (2013)
• Keynesian model’s economic policy is based upon “tripartite concentration between the state,
employers, and trade unions; a comprehensive welfare state; an activist industrial policy construed to
sustain a skilled labour force and a favourable fiscal environment”.
• An equal society is “one where every individual can fulfil his or her potential regardless of inherited
privilege and social class”, aiming ultimately at “personal fulfilment and individual liberty (p.94)”.
• The author describes its strategy in concise manner: “International in inspiration, national in
implementation”.
• Moral sustainability: “policies that promote social cohesion (p.159)”, in the presence of ethnic and
cultural diversity, require “effective control [which] produces a higher level of legitimacy for a welfare
state (p.161)”.
“An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India” by Shashi Tharoor (2016)
• The British, unlike the assimilative Mughals, superimposed their own values and language on the vast
cultural and linguistic diversity of the subcontinent through anglicization.
• The Indian Railways, the education system and the British Parliamentary System in the so-called
medieval subcontinent were introduced only to keep a stronghold over the subcontinent and to facilitate
and speed up the looting and exploiting of the region’s resources.
• The British used English language as an instrument of colonization and taught it to a few who would
“serve as intermediaries between the rulers and the ruled”.
• Britain turned a rich and resourceful region into “a poster child of poverty”. “The British left a society
with 16 per cent literacy, a life expectancy of 27, practically no domestic industry and over 90 per cent
living below what today we would call the poverty line (p.224).”
• The British neo-imperialism is still felt through the capitalist elite class that has subjected masses to
corporate domination.
“Kashmir: The Case of Freedom” by Tariq Ali, Hilal Bhatt, Angana Chatterji, Habbah Khatun,
Pankaj Mishra & Arundhati Roy (2011)
• Kashmir remained the “unfinished business of partition”. Neither India nor Pakistan wants to see an
independent, sovereign Kashmir. “And yet independence is what the Kashmiri people appear to want”.
[Tariq Ali]
• Despite that India has “done everything it could to subvert, suppress, represent, misrepresent, discredit,
interpret, intimidate, purchase, and simply snuff out the voice of the Kashmiri people…, the people of
Kashmir kept the fires burning (p.58)”. [Arundhati Roy]
• India has never adopted a policy to differentiate between terrorists and freedom fighters. Thus the fate
of resistance largely depends “upon India’s political decisions (p.106)”, which have been fundamentally
wrong i.e. “Impunity laws”. [Angana P. Chatterji]
• Not Crushed, Merely Ignored: “Kashmir is never spoken of and it has never been allowed to speak.”
[Tariq Ali]
• Nehru declared that Kashmir is not a “prize for India and Pakistan”, and it was him who acknowledged
the UN as the “Impartial tribunal” and disregarded commitments which would disgrace “international
obligations”. [Arundhati Roy]
“Pakistan: A Hard Country” by Anatol Lieven (2012)
• “Pakistan is divided, disorganized, economically backwards, corrupt, violent, unjust, often savagely
oppressive towards the poor and women, and home to extremely dangerous forms of extremism and
terrorism – ‘and yet it moves’[…]”
• Whenever politicians make a mess or whenever there is a crisis in the country, the army swoops in and
saves the day.
• “The ISI’s Kashmir strategy reflected the longstanding Pakistani strategy of promoting Kashmiri
accession to Pakistan, and not Kashmiri independence.”
• “Unless the USA, India, or both together invade Pakistan and thereby precipitate its disintegration, the
likelihood is that the country will hold together, and that if it eventually collapses, it will be not Islamist
extremism but climate change that finishes it off (p.20).”
“The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics” by Aysha Jalal (2011)
• Despite Jinnah making it clear at numerous occasions that the idea of Pakistan is based on “… political
not religious opposition to the congress (p.26)”, Islamists gave a religious cover to the Pakistan ideology.
• Keeping in mind the “authoritarian trappings of the colonial state”, the nascent state inherited and the
inability of political leadership to sustain the political and economic conditions; the “military-bureaucratic”
nexus had the ideal environment to dominate the state.
• Responsibility of “picking up the pieces of a dismembered and demoralized country… fell on the eager
shoulders of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto”.
• “Third military intervention” was about to “herald unparalleled changes in the political and ideological
profile”. “Islamic ideology and military might were the twin pillars on which general Zia-ul-Haq began
building his new order (p.217).”
• It was only after the death of Zia-ul-Haq that the “democracy reinstated” itself in Pakistan, but could not
take roots.
• The justification Musharraf laid down for “supporting America’s ill-phrased ‘War on Terror’” was Pakistan
being always “first”. Soon it turned out, it was “Musharraf First – prolonging his stay in power (p.323)”.
• The unanimous approval of the 18th Amendment marked the journey towards a parliamentary form of
government.
“Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan’s Religious Minorities” by Farahnaz
Ispahani (2017)
• The Objective Resolution 1949 tarnished Jinnah’s vision of ‘religious pluralism’. Later on, Zia’s regime
struck the last nail in the coffin.
• “Pakistan’s leaders persisted in nation building through religion, rather than embracing inclusive civic
nationalism.”
• Zia, considering himself the “soldier of Islam”, forced Islamization based on primitive interpretations,
causing worries for the whole civil society; yet it were the minorities that got affected the most.
• “The reason why Musharraf’s promise of reining in religious extremism went unfulfilled lies in his support
for jihad as an instrument of Pakistan’s foreign policy.”
“Pakistan’s Enduring Challenges” by C. Christine Fair and Sarah J. Watson (2015)
• US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan will cause a rise in tensions among the militants, making it harder for
Pakistan to manage the militancy. – be it prostate or anti-state. US’ reliance on Pakistan will then reduce,
and India will become strategically important.
• Yet a silver lining is that civilian leaders will no longer be accused of acting as US’ puppets, reducing the
military’s influence on politics.
• Pakistani leaders will, then, try to make Pakistan more relevant to China and Saudi Arabia for political
and financial security.
• Sura-e-Tauba is reckoned a doctrine by Islamic militants, the different interpretations of which keep the
militants to unite.
• “Nuclear risk is a by-product of Pakistan’s instability, an outgrowth of its dangerous neighbours coupled
with the complicated relationship between the Pakistani state and violent extremism.”
• With new technologies, there is a “[…] possibility of a greater public role in decision making about
contentious security and foreign policies, a domain that has long been the shadowy preserve of the
Pakistani military (p.158)”.
• “The Pakistani state’s inability to raise sufficient government tax revenue has meant that the country
runs a perpetual budget deficit and faces severe financial constraints that preclude the formation and
implementation of an effective economic development strategy.”
“Pakistan: Beyond the ‘Crisis State’” by Maleeha Lodhi (2011)
• The ‘Indian factor’ and threats from “within” have pushed Pakistan towards the contours of a “security
state”.
• The “Islamic Shift”, from Jinnah’s ‘Unity, Faith & Discipline’ to Zia’s “Faith, Piety & Jihad” coupled with
“administrative paralysis” changed the whole course of history. [Aysha Jalal]
• Although “Jinnah’s ideas about Pakistan remained vague”, he did not support “a theocratic state run by
mullahs”.
• Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan included protection of minorities, a “need to check provincialism”, support for
refugees, “cordial relations” with India and “maintaining standards of neighbourly courtesy (p.21-32)”.
[Akbar Ahmed]
• “Tax revolution” could create the difference and enable the state to spend more on education and
healthcare. [Mohsin Hamid]
• Pakistan has to choose “politically confident middle class, fostered by economic growth, and empowered
by information revolution”.
• As the army enhanced its scope, the political development got obstructed. Thus it “needs to take a back
seat”. [Shuja Nawaz]
• Initially, the Objectives Resolution “injected religion into the core of Pakistan”. The following years saw
“Bhutto’s Islamic Socialism”, Zia’s Islamisation, Musharraf’s ‘enlightened moderation’ and eventually
‘Talibanization’. [Ziad Haider]
• Pakistan’s security woes of militancy relates to “lack of a comprehensive & integrated counter-terrorism
strategy”. [Zahid Hussain]
• “Retooling” should include: reforming civil services, “restructuring federal, provincial and district
governments”, improving “delivery of basic services”, “strengthening key institutions of governance” and
reforming “institutions of restraint”. [Ishrat Hussain]
• Macroeconomic reforms pertain to controlling inflation, “equitable and effective” taxation, introduction of
social safety nets, “raising domestic savings”, contriving “export-led development strategy”, boosting
“Total Factor Productivity (TFP)” and streamlining “Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs)” are crucial for
economic revival. [Meekal Ahmed]
• Building competitiveness needs ‘clear vision’, robust governance & infrastructure, “becoming the
region’s food reservoir”, enhancing educational standards, improving skilled work force, “boosting exports
and transforming textiles” and refining the SME Sector.
• “The elusive fundamental in energy sector reform is Integrated Energy Planning, and imperative of
adopting this is unquestionable”.
“On Palestine” by Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky (2015)
• Driven by Zionism, Israel started a pogrom of the native Palestinians and insanely insisted that it was
Israel’s divinely specified territory.
• “BDS so far has been an impulse, not a strategy. I think it is an impulse that needs to be accompanied by
more thorough analysis, study, and explanation.”
• US’ cold indifference to the plight of Palestinians and an unprecedented support for Zionist hegemony is
privy to none.
• Israel initially recognizes and observes the ceasefire and then disregards it by assaulting Gaza again.
Hamas responds, and Israel gets an excuse to launch more attacks, with the magnitude of each attack
being more lethal than before.
• Western propaganda projects Israel as the victim of Hamas or Hezbollah aggression, and gains support
for Israeli right to self-defence.
• Chomsky supports a two-state solution as the only viable option. While Pappe propounds one state
solution.
• Comparison of Palestine with South African apartheid is a misguided analogy, for Israel is a separationist
and South Africa was not.
• Expansion of territory and dreams of making a Great Israel is Israel’s utmost ambition.
“The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times” by Mohamed ElBaradei
(2014)
• The NPT’s inspection regime often finds it difficult to determine if there is a clandestine program going
on, since most of the steps involves are the same as that for the negative use.
• IAEA found massive discrepancy between the declared amount of plutonium by North Korea and the
actual amount. Thereafter, stunned North Korea denied the request for a special inspection, which
ElBaradei regrets.
• IAEA was uncertain about Iraq’s status, and its ties with the US soured in the later years.
• After a detailed inspection of Iran’s uranium enrichment plants in Natanz, IAEA was sceptical about Iran’s
clandestine nuclear testing.
• Agency found a lot of information referring to A.Q. Khan’s involvement in nuclear programs of Iran, Libya
and North Korea.
“American Foreign Policy and Its Thinkers” by Perry Anderson (2017)
• After the WWII, America’s goal of sustaining global capital, liberal economy and free trade was free from
any ideological hindrance.
• In their private discussions, George Kennan and other were not great fans of democracy, but they had to
wear façades to legitimise their imperialist policies under the garb of security.
• From Roosevelt to Obama, every president called their interventionist ventures as “divinely granted
responsibility” to be the loadstar.
• During the cold war era, the ideological war was portrayed as liberal democracy versus totalitarian
regimes. USA was very clever in its vocabulary; they had sophisticated euphemisms for capitalism: free
trade & liberal democracy.
• The ideological legacies of Roosevelt and Wilson have remained the bedrock of American foreign policy
thinking, as per Kissinger: the first demands a balance of power in the world; the second demands a
commitment to “put an end to arbitrary powers everywhere”.
• US gives Kennan, Brzezinski, Kissinger, Acheson, and other architects of American foreign policy the
liberty to perform experiments on other countries, which serve as lab-rats for them, without any fear of
consequences.
“Human Rights: Social Justice in the Age of the Market” by Koen De Feyter (2017)
• By providing space for the play of market forces, states inadvertently allow these firms to influence their
national policies, implications of which might be harmful for the local population, especially marginalized
factions of society.
• International economic organizations’ decision making borders on the rules laid down by industrial
giants.
• In economic globalization, states do not consider human rights; instead their humanitarian
considerations are largely driven by national interests. Much focus is laid on economic, social and cultural
(ESC) rights, with civil and political rights getting little attention.
• Policy makers must not overlook human rights, but prioritize them while signing any legal document
under WTO rules.
• The international human rights regime should establish a much effective accountability mechanism,
especially accessible to the marginalized individuals, so that violators go through stringent scrutiny.
• Cross-border movement of migrants and refugees should be endorsed with maximum liberty and equal
rights.
• UN OHCHR fails to legally bind states for any kind of violation, as there are neither any sanctions nor any
reparations for the abused.
• The Articles of ICESCR call for general implications without being specific, making lack of compliance
inevitable.
“Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the US-Saudi Connection” by Medea Benjamin (2016)
• Saudi Arabia is the last absolute monarchy on Earth, with municipal councils being the only elected
bodies.
• An incredibly strict interpretation of religion guides almost all aspects of life. Spiritual Hajj is only
performed as per Salafists directions.
• Wahhabis Islam is the official religion, where Shi’ite minority is paid less, atheism is tantamount to
terrorism, Bibles are confiscated, and Sufi Muslims are discriminated.
• Any type of religious, ideological, political or economic dissent is a punishable offense. Government
controls & gags all media outlets.
• KSA’s Wahhabi regime along with US played a significant role in the creation of Taliban; is suspected for
their clandestine role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks; and their susceptibility to sponsor terrorism is
reflected in their ideological support for ISIS.
• US’s soft corner for KSA and a blind indifference towards their dystopian regime is privy to none.
“America’s Addiction to Terrorism” by Henry A. Giroux (2015)
• Absence of charm of public sphere, that keeps the forces of “militarization, violence, and state terrorism”
in check, has lead to an era in “… which acts of violence and moral depravity were not only embraced but
celebrated.” Now, “Terrorism is as American as apple pie.”
• Giroux criticizes the new authoritarian class: “They are the new gated class who float above the national
boundaries, laws, regulation, and oversight, with a task to transform all nation-states into instruments to
enrich their wealth and power.”
• “Racist brutality” in the US encompasses cruelties vis-à-vis women’s reproductive rights, voting rights of
poor minorities, domestic violence, gun ownership, attacks on immigrants and war against critical thinking.
• “Education under neoliberalism kills the social imagination and any hope for a world that is more just,
equal, and democratic.”
“Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism” by Ian Bremmer (2018)
• Middle class in developed nations continues to shrink due to job-elimination, the same section swells in
developing ones.
• Fears of diluted identity mix with economic anxieties. Migrants put considerable strain on social welfare
systems.
• The fragmented nature of the internet has created “filter bubble”, depriving us to broaden our thinking
and change our minds.
• High-wage countries are more likely to dominate the skill-intensive industries, while the middle class in
developing world cannot move beyond a certain point without embracing the revolution in technology and
innovation.
• “Walls don’t kill democracy. They protect democracy for ‘us’ by denying it to ‘them’.
• Given the importance of critical thinking, creativity and communication skills, an educations that includes
history, philosophy, literature, art, and music as well as math, science and digital skills will be more
important than ever.
“Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power” by
Noam Chomsky (2017)
• Reduce Democracy: by ascertaining “that the power rests in the hands of the wealthy”.
• Shape Ideology: “Trilateral Commission liberals went on to offer measures to reinstitute better
indoctrination to control the press, drive people back into passivity and apathy, and let the ‘right’ kind of
society develop (p.26).”
• Redesign the Economy: “sharp increase in the role of finance in the economy, and a corresponding
decline in domestic production”.
• Shift the Burden: Economic burden through regressive taxation system from the ‘plutonomy’ to the
‘precariat’.
• Attack Solidarity: ‘Social security, public education and national healthcare’ are threats for the
wealthiest.
• Regulatory Capture: ‘Regulation’ becomes a kind of ‘cooperation’ resulting into “revolving doors” effect.
• Engineer Election: As the cost of elections increases by the day, concentration of power depends largely
on concentration of wealth.
• Keep the Rabble in Line: The ‘democratizing’ energy of “organized labour” is a threat to “corporate
tyranny”.
• Manufacture Consent: “To create uninformed consumers who will make irrational choices.”
• Marginalize the Population: The “unfocused anger” or “generalized rage” of the general public can be
channelized by evil minds.
“The Hidden Structure of Violence: Who Benefits from Global Violence and War” by Marc
Pilisuk & Jennifer Achord Rountree (2015)
• In the age of globalization, only hegemonic powers have succeeded in ensuring their well-being. Working
class is perpetually exploited, and very little has been done to improve their lifestyles.
• “There are exception, but in the lead-up to war media serve less as the provider of factual information
and more as the propaganda arm for officials seeking war.”
• “Military and economic violence in the global era is a reflection of the increasing concentration of wealth
among a few dominant players to the exclusion of others.”
“Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media” by Edward S. Herman and
Noam Chomsky (2010)
• Filter out news to manufacture consent of the general public is a part of the propaganda model which
concentrates on the “inequality of wealth and power and its multilevel effects on mass-media interests and
choices”.
• People suffering in ‘enemy states’ are deemed “worthy” victims, while “those treated with equal or
greater severity by its own government or clients will be unworthy”. The “definitions of worth” are framed
on political basis.
• Elections in the third world can either be of “friendly client states” or of “disfavoured or enemy
countries”. “Favoured” elections are considered legitimate while “disfavoured” elections are labelled as
“farcical”.
“Capitalism: A Ghost Story” by Arundhati Roy (2014)
• Gush-up effect seriously compromises the function of institutions of democracy, by enabling
wealth/power into the hands of the few.
• Trickledown effect finds ways for the richest to become a part of decision making to exploit poor for their
own materialistic gains.
• “The sanctity of private property never applies to the poor.”
• US strategic and corporate organizations are using strategic analysts in India to “play up hostilities
between India and China, so that India plays the same role against China that Pakistan played as a U.S.
ally against USSR.
“Dirty Secrets: How Tax Havens Destroy the Economy” by Richard Murphy (2017)
• “Tax havens have three fundamental purposes”: to undermine the laws to benefit the elite, to prevent
government meet their electoral objectives and to increase the concentration of income and wealth.
• Tax havens are fortified by products such as trusts, foundations and companies, backed by politicians,
lawyers, accountants & bankers.
• “The real problem of tax havens is not tax abuse itself, important thought that is, but the secrecy that
permits that abuse and many others.
• Tax havens push the developing nations into dependency syndrome, cause lack of transparency in
markets, promote unfair competition, damage the democracy and misallocate the taxes.
• Policy reforms to tackle tax havens are making the actions of MNCs transparent, taxing the companies
instead of the shareholders, and generating the political will.
“Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Piketty (2014)
• Piketty presents the income of top 1 and 0.1 percent in a huge U-shaped curve, extending from dawn of
the 20th century.
• Unequal wealth or ownership of assets, instead of unequal pay, is the key driver of income disparities,
akin to 19th century – also known as Europe’s Belle Epoque or America’s Gilded Age.
• “The right solution is a progressive annual tax on capital. This will make it possible to avoid an endless
inegalitarian spiral while preserving competition and incentives for new instances of primitive
accumulation (p.399).”
• In order to reassert the control over capitalism, taxes should be imposed on accumulated wealth or
capital instead of redistributing wealth through taxation on income.
“The God Market: How Globalization is Making India More Hindu” by Meera Nanda (2011)
• Poor are exploited in the name of religion and are too backwards to understand complex underpinnings
of corporate sector dynamics.
• With the increase in gentrification among the middle class, religion has got a stronghold on the society,
making it hard for Indians to bifurcate science and mythology.
• “The state-temple-corporate complex works to the advantage of Hinduism.”
“Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s
Final Crisis” by John Smith (2016)
• “The starvation wages, death-trap factories, and fetid slums in Bangladesh are representative of the
conditions endured by hundreds of millions of working people throughout the Global South.”
• “The idea of super-exploitation needs to be conceptually generalised at the necessary level of
abstraction and incorporated in the theory of imperialism.”
• Building upon “housewifization”, capitalist corporations initially hired women to join their work force
given their docile nature.
“Who Owes Who: 50 Questions About World Debt” by Damien Millet and Eric Toussaint (2013)
• After WWII, South became subordinated for colonial practices were not entirely abolished. “This
subordination was made manifest in two main areas: unfair exchange and the downgrading of the terms of
exchange. Both problems have subsisted until the present day, aggravated by the spiralling debt
mechanism.”
• “Today, populations are being milked dry to repay a debt which never even profited them.”
• IMF and World Bank helped DCs to develop industries, not to reduce the gap between the North and the
South, but to integrate the DCs into global arena to serve the interests of multinationals of the North.
• There are selective reductions for the strategic allies of US and other four powers. But for allies like
Pakistan, Egypt and Poland, reductions are made only for them to comply with conditions set by the US.
• Debt cancellation today would result in IMF’s and World Bank’s banishment and subsequent
destabilization under US’ impetus.
• An overall comparison between North and South’s debt reveal staggering discrepancy, and cancellation
would not affect the global finance. For every $1 owed since 1980s, DCs have repaid $7.5 and they still
have to pay $4 more.
“Alternatives to Capitalism: Proposals for a Democratic Economy” by Robin Hahnel & Erik Olin
Wright (2013)
• Hahnel’s approach aims to achieve “economic democracy, economic justice, and human solidarity” by
shifting the power from market forces of demand and supply to individuals that partake in a market on
day-to-day basis.
• Socialist Empowerment: “institutional designs that simultaneously attempt to embody emancipatory
ideals… while still being attentive to the practical problems of viability and sustainability”.
• Robin’s ‘participatory planning’ believes markets to be “cancer” to an equitable and environment-
friendly economy. While Erik suggests that “markets and market-like arrangements… are the simplest and
most effective way of dealing with certain specific problems”.
“Men Explain Things to Me” by Rebecca Solnit (2014)
• Men find themselves entitled to mansplain their opinion wherever they please, but the same liberty
doesn’t extend itself to women.
• The savage system of patriarchy enables the physical and emotional exploitation of women. The need to
control their female counterparts has been entrenched in the male psyche by the patriarchal
institutionalization of toxic masculinity.
“Cyberpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet” by Julian Assange, Jack Appelbaum,
Andy Maguhn & Jeremie Zimmermann
• The powerful see internet as an illness and a threat that should be resisted and controlled. “Such people
are often talking about cyber war and not one of them, not a single one, is talking about cyber peace-
building, or anything related to peace-building (Assange).”
• Jeremie Zimmermann suggests that surveillance should be tactically done through a systematic judicial
procedure.
• There is nor privacy in the world as our political and economic interactions are being shrivelled.
Systematic censorship has crippled any debate, dissent and critique of oppressive regimes.
• Common folks are unveiled unjustifiably, while there is neither any surveillance nor any accountability for
the powerful.
“This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate” by Naomi Klein (2014)
• “Our economic system and our planetary system are now at war.”
• “Extractivism is a nonreciprocal, dominance-based relationship with the earth, one purely of taking
(p.169).”
• The “defensive reasoning” or utter denial stems from the world finding it difficult to change its
established “worldviews.”
• For corporate world, caring for the climate means “allowing their American SUV to die right before their
eyes (p.32)”.
• Many ecological organizations in the US (Big Green) have formed alliances with corporations actively
involved in polluting the world.
• “A worldview based on regeneration and renewal rather than domination and depletion” requires:
democracy, divestment & resistance.
Global Warming and Climate Change: Nature’s War Against Humanity
1) Introduction
a) Pakistan is the 8th most vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change according to Global
Climate Risk Index 2022.
2) Nuts and Bolts
a) Global Warming: “Global warming is the long-term warming of the planet's overall temperature.”
[National Geographic]
b) Climate Change: “Climate change is a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns.” [National
Geographic]
c) Ozone Layer Depletion: “The depletion of the earth stratospheric ozone layer as a result of the
catalytic destruction of ozone by atomic halogens.” [UNEP]
d) Greenhouse Gases: “A gas that contributes to the natural greenhouse effect. ” [EEA] The Kyoto
Protocol covers a basket of six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride.
e) The Greenhouse Effect: “The greenhouse effect is the process through which heat is trapped near
Earth's surface by substances known as ‘greenhouse gases’”. [NASA]
f) Carbon Footprint: “The sum total of all the greenhouse gas emissions that had to take place in order
for a product to be produced or for an activity to take place.” [The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike
Berners-Lee]
3) Level of Threat
a) “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” [Benjamin Franklin]
b) “Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it's common sense.” [Ronald
Reagan]
c) “Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here; it is happening now.” [Barack
Obama]
d) “Global warming is a reality and it is man-made.” [Bjorn Lomborg]
e) Greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest levels in 2 million years. [United Nations]
f) Earth is now warming at a rate of more than 0.1°C (0.2°F) every decade. [NASA GISS]
4) Anthropogenic Interferences: Major sources of GHGs are power plants (30%), residential building
(11%), road transport (10.5%), Deforestation (10.3%), industrial processes & waste (8.3), commercial
building (7%) and so on.
5) Far-reaching Consequence
a) Global Temperature Rise: Earth is now warming at a rate of more than 0.1°C (0.2°F) every decade.
[NASA GISS]
b) Warming Oceans: As the excessive heat and energy warms the ocean, the change in temperature
leads to unparalleled cascading effects, including ice-melting, sea-level rise, marine heatwaves, and ocean
acidification. [United Nations]
c) Shrinking Arctic Ice Sheets: The extent of sea ice in Arctic has shrunk since 1979, by between 3.5%
and 4.1% per decade.
d) Glacial Retreat: Half of the world’s glaciers could disappear by the end of the century under 1.5C of
warming.
e) Shrunk Snow Covers: Reducing ice cover decreases the reflection of sunlight from the Earth's surface
(the Earth's Albedo).
f) Rising Sea Levels: Global average sea level has risen 8–9 inches since 1880. [www.noaa.gov]
(Indonesia’s capital shift)
g) Extreme Weather Events: The atmosphere can hold more moisture as it warms, causing longer and
hotter heat waves, more frequent droughts, periodic wildfires, heavier rainfall, and more powerful
hurricanes. (2022-23 Australian Bushfire Season)
h) Ocean Acidification: As CO2 continues to dissolve into oceans, the pH will decrease making ocean
more acidic. [www.noaa.gov]
i) Food Insecurity: “49M people in 43 countries one step away from famine.” [António Guterres] (soil
erosion/degradation)
j) Shifting Species: Mass migrations by many land and marine species to evade extinction, in response
to warmer oceans.
k) Mass Migration: Mass movements of ‘Climate Refugees’ and social disruption.
6) Global Efforts of Climate Action
a) Montreal Protocol 1987: A global agreement to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out
the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
b) Kyoto Protocol 1997: An agreement that called for industrialized nations to significantly reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions.
c) Paris Agreement 2015: Consensus to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to hold
global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to
1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
7) Roadmap to a Sustainable Future
a) Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth: A visual framework for sustainable development with the
aim of creating a regenerative economy. The model splits into: Social Foundation, The safe and just space
for humanity, Ecological ceiling.
b) Carbon Capture & Storage: The average global carbon footprint is about 4 tons. To have the best
chance of avoiding a 2℃ rise in global temperatures, the average global carbon footprint per year needs
to drop to under 2 tons by 2050. [www.nature.org]
c) Fossil to Renewable Energy: Switching to clean sources of energy addresses multitudes of pollutions.
d) Expanding the Recycling Industry: Recycling saves energy and prevents extraction of raw materials.
e) Eco-Friendly HVAC Systems: Avoiding the use of chlorofluorocarbons will provide the ozone layer a
breathing space.
f) Industrial Waste Retreatment: Mitigation trends can minimize the industrial impact on environment.
g) Conservation Practices in Agriculture: Advancements in agriculture processes can ensure
preservation & efficient use of water.
h) Global Consensus on Paris Agreement Obligations: Collective adherence to SDG 13 – ‘Climate
Action’.
i) Electric Vehicles: Eliminate of exhaust emissions of NOx and PM2.5.
j) Forestation Drives: Growing trees can mitigate the shooting levels of carbon dioxides driving climate
change.
k) R4 Strategy of Disaster Management: Rescue, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction.
8) 2022 Pakistan Floods
a) Floods affected around 33M people and killed at least 1,739 from the beginning of monsoon season in
mid-June to Nov 2022.
b) About 20.6M people required humanitarian assistance. The floods inflicted $14.9 Bn in damages and
$15.2 Bn in economic losses. Estimated needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a resilient way are at
least $16.3 Bn. [World Bank]
9) Geneva Climate Moot 2023:
a) Pakistan secured over $10Bn flood aid pledges from WB, IsDB, ADB, EU, UAE, KSA, China & USAID.
4) Economic Challenges a) Current/Capital/Financial Account Constraints i) Current Account Deficit: Import restrictions
temporarily checks the outflow of dollar but creates a shortage of product and inflation.
ii) Remittances: Fluctuations.
iii) Debt Servicing (Interest Payments): Enormous debt compounded by fluctuating interest and depreciating currency.
iv) Investments (FDI/Portfolio)
v) Aids, Grants
vi) Dividends
vii) Foreign Exchange Reserves: barely dodged the default on international financial obligations.
b) Fiscal Discipline/Management Mishaps i) Civil Government Expenditure: Overstaffing, ministers in excess, expenditures
beyond bearable limits.
ii) Public Sector Development Programs: Debt burden.
iii) Transferable Funds: Provincial free riding mechanisms.
iv) Defense Budget: 2nd largest chunk from federal budget.
v) Pays and Pensions: Underperformance.
vi) Subsidies: Wrongly placed. Litmus Test: unchecked product prices and unattracted investors.
vii) Revenues: Tax evasion, lack of stringent technocratic measures, narrow tax base, untaxed sectors.
viii) Privatization Proceeds: Steel Mills, PIA, WAPDA; white elephants, stagnant growth, judicial activism.
ix) Borrowing: Acute and myopic vision.
x) Circular Debt
5) Economic Reforms a) Current/Capital/Financial Account Measures i) Massive Industrialization & Import Substitution: In
areas of comparative advantage with local production: Textile sector.
ii) Skill Exports, Incentivization and Improved Transfer Channels: Cushioning and buffering by tapping the youth bulge.
iii) Restructuring, Payoffs and Avoidance: Economic house-in-order, financial management, diplomatic engagement, leaning the
expenditures and optimizing the institutional performances.
iv) Ease of Doing Business, Political Stability and Policy Continuity: Winning investors confidence against red-tapism, corruption
or bureaucratic channels. Charter of economy, political consensus, streamlined investment channels and institutional dialogues.
v) Investment and Trade
vi) Investor Confidence: Political stability, policy continuity, productive institutions and liquidating the financial assets.
b) Fiscal Discipline/Management Reorganizations i) Government Reforms and Lean Management: Limiting number of
ministries, digitization, KPI based performance system, downsizing the staff substituting the white elephants with digital governance.
ii) Public-Private Partnership and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Model: Independent Power Producers (IPPs)
iii) Debt Restructuring (Organizational Reforms):
iv) NFC Awards Restructuring and Revising 18th Amendment: a helping hand from provinces towards the Centre.
v) Civil-Military Industrial Complex and Self-Financing Model: Defense Exports and self-sufficient in defense needs.
vi) Performance Based Incentivization, Downsizing, Self-Contributing Pension Fund: Performance based pay progression.
vii) Better Placement and Optimization:
viii) Tax Reforms, Better Tax Recovery and Digitization (Block chain Technology): Demonetization, Documented economy,
formalized economy, digital computation of tax, widening tax net.
ix) Transparency or Reforms of Sick Units:
x) Fiscal Discipline and Economic Growth: Productive channelization.
xi) Combination of Technical, Administrative Solutions: Better transmission systems, renewable energy, improved distribution
mechanisms, enhanced recovery.