Policy Brief

Promises and Policies – Reviewing Party Manifestos for the 2013 Elections

by:  Ahmer Naqvi

2013 promises to be a historic year for democracy in Pakistan, as the country marks its first democratic transition between civilian governments in its 66-year history. Unlike the previous elections...
Policy Brief

Economic Policy and Management in Pakistan (2008 to 2013)

by:  Safiya Aftab

In the five years of the previous government’s tenure, the country has seen five Finance Ministers (FM), four Finance Secretaries (who have had six tenures among them, as one person...
Conference and Research reports

Extremism Watch: Mapping Conflict Trends in Pakistan 2011 – 2012

2012 saw previous patterns of violence against religious minorities continue to be repeated, often with greater intensity. This report documents the increase in bombings at Sufi shrines, the rising spate...
Policy Brief

Performance and Prospects of Democracy in Pakistan: Political Scenarios Affecting the Elections 2013

It is for the first time in Pakistan’s history that an elected government is completing its term (2008-2013). The Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition was jolted on several occasions, but it...
Opinion

Spitballing the endgame

by:  Fahd Humayun

The picture is depressingly familiar: with another warm-weather fighting season upon Afghanistan, efforts to crowd-source an international fall guy for a war gone south is disingenuously pitting public opinion against...
Policy Brief

Grant of MFN Status to India: Possible Impacts

by:  Safiya Aftab

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in FY2010, the value of Pakistan’s exports to India was $260 million, and the value of imports from India was $1061 million....
Policy Brief

Monitoring Hate Speech on the Internet

by:  Annum Sadiq

The internet is the world’s largest ungoverned space, where users access information, exchange views and undertake collective action. At least 20 million Pakistanis are online, following a boom in the...
Policy Brief

Another Approach to Madrassa Reforms in Pakistan

by:  Syed Mohammad Ali

The rise of extremism and intolerance in Pakistan over the decades, not just in the militant periphery but in mainstream society too, has been promoted by a number of factors....
Opinion

Jinnah’s Pakistan cannot be abandoned

by:  Raza Rumi

This August has been cruel. Haunting images of Sindhi Hindus, essential to the cultural reality and demography of the province, leaving the country [i] shook those who believe that Pakistan belongs...
Policy Brief

Fiscal Planning, Eighteenth Amendment and The Upcoming Budget

by:  Hina Shaikh

It is that time of the year again, when the Pakistan secretariat becomes the epicenter of budget activity. Each year the budget exercise follows a pre-set routine that is not...