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The world’s richest one percent now own more wealth than all of the bottom 99 percent combined. This finding comes from Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report for 2015, released last week. Last year, Credit Suisse found the richest one percent of adults owned 48 percent of global wealth. According to the new report, the top one percent now hold 50.4 percent of all the world’s household wealth. Credit Suisse’s findings are in line with Oxfam’s prediction that global wealth inequality is only becoming greater. Last January, we predicted that the richest one percent would capture more than half of all household wealth by 2016. It looks like our prediction was right, but that we were too conservative, since it has happened a year early. Alas, our forecast was confirmed, but it’s nothing to celebrate. When we first calculated in January 2014, the 85 richest individuals own more wealth than the poorest half of the planet. This trend has also worsened since that time. Last January, it was...

The growing tension between Turkey and its Western allies, which was further heightened during the Obama administration, is narrowing the space for cooperation between the two sides and in fact is progressively worsening. Erdogan’s hope that he and President Trump would improve their ties as members of NATO has dramatically diminished. Washington and the EU still deeply disagree with Ankara on a host of issues, which are unlikely to be resolved on a mutually gainful basis any time in the foreseeable future. Turkey’s growing retreat from Western values may have already reached a point of no return. Erdogan has removed Turkey from the Western orbit and set the alliance on a collision course. The falling-out is attributed to the following troubling developments over the past several years. The most daunting disagreement between the US/EU and Turkey is Erdogan’s systematic destruction of every democratic pillar in his country, including gross human rights violations, closing major med...

When it comes to promoting tourism, Pakistanis have long been slumbering. I wonder why this has always been mistreated by our people and of course the governments. Pakistan is no stranger to the kindness of Mother Nature and thus houses some of the most interesting wonders found in the wild and many jewels of the past and present. We have natural beauty and world class monuments and heritage sites depicting the love of nature, history and glory of the past. Which brings me to my question: what is the use of these historical sites and natural beauty when there are no tourists? In my recent visit to the Northern Areas of Pakistan I was saddened to see the mismanagement and deserted beauty. We lack proper tourist resorts, spots and recreational facilities. I happened to enjoy the snowfall up in the north but had it been some other country the place would have been over flooded with tourists. What’s the reason? Well, the roads. For one thing, other than the Express Way to Murree, ...

During the last few weeks we witnessed tremendous political activity due to by-elections in Punjab. All eyes were fixed on constituencies NA-122, NA-144 and PP-147. NA-122 became vacant due to the Election Commission’s de-seating of the speaker of the National Assembly. This was the most important by-election since it was a direct tussle between Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (PML-N) and Abdul Alim Khan (PTI). The N-Leaguers had been very complacent regarding the by-elections, but when the results started coming in, one saw they were nervous. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq managed to win, but by a very narrow margin of about 2,500 votes. He won about 73,000 against his opponent winning about 71,000. It was more of a moral defeat than a political victory. There were at least 10,000 government employees in the constituency and it is always easy for the ruling party to offer them incentives to win their loyalty. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq should have resigned and allowed another election as he now has no moral authority...

This is an age of specialisation. Management, especially at the state level, demands specialisation of individuals and institutions. But specialisation is of no use if it is not coordinated to achieve major objectives. While managing a state now it is very difficult to clearly mark out the boundaries between security and foreign affairs, or between economic, security and foreign affairs. To run a government with success, coordination among all vital institutions is a must. And this can be highlighted through the many issues we face in Pakistan, one of which is militancy in the tribal areas. If we stick to neat categories this issue belongs to the Ministry of Interior. But now it is also very relevant to the Ministry of Defence due to the ongoing operation of the Pakistan Army in the tribal areas. As we all know, a foreign hand is involved in this militancy. In that case, this case also has a direct connection with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yet another department, the Finan...

CPEC was an enthusiastic bilateral investment treaty between Pakistan and China. Nevertheless, it has become an incomprehensible ethos. It has academic, practical, political and communal aspects.  It seems to be an economic investment though it has more political milestones than economic. Ostensibly, it is merely an economic investment for China; nonetheless, they are endeavouring to enrich their destitute area. It will not only remove indigence from the deprived area but also close the window of insurgence. Apart from economic opulence the sentiments of being deprived will be eradicated from the people and convert the traitors into patriots. It will undo stagnant situation of the area and start the process of revolution. The acumen of Chine’s government behind this gigantic investment is crystal clear that they are eager to share their fortune with entire of the country. Although all these aspects are sufficient to evince the judicious approach of their government having said...

On a different planet a Pakistani prime minister visiting the United States could have made the following points in his meeting with the host president. “Thank you for hosting us. Convention demands that I ought to be conservative and considerate in my response to the points you have raised concerning the role Pakistan is expected to play for world peace and regional stability. Honesty demands that I should be forthright in my review of our bilateral relations. What follows is a delicate marriage of truth and protocol. Bear with me. First Afghanistan. We have multiple concerns. We border this chronic battleground. We have paid the cost of being a neighbour – in blood, in money and in the lost opportunity to expend our energies on more productive pursuits. There are no two opinions on the need for an Afghan-led peace process to move forward. However, the pre-requisite for that is a modicum of stability in the existing order in Kabul. Without that no one is in any position to convin...

Edward Abbey may have been one of the most important American essayist of the 70s, and possibly the most underrated. It is difficult to imagine the post-Regan United States – the flag-bearer of neoliberalism – having a past dripping in socialist literature. One may speculate that a writer as prolific as Abbey, although the recipient of much national fame, did not attain the height he truly deserved because of his unapologetic and radical leftist leanings. An anarcho-socialist American; a term almost as nonsensical as ‘liberal fascism’, one may argue. Consider the fate of illustrious American screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo – a proud communist who was imprisoned and persecuted for his thought crimes. Abbey, of course, had the advantage of having his political views aired after the end of the McCarthy era, even though the effects of McCarthyism were still more than palpable. Abbey was a fiery critic of the government’s public land policies, and is best known for a novel that may well ...

This week the World Health Organisation released a press statement on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat. The statement, which elicited media headlines comparing eating hot dogs to smoking cigarettes, reported findings from a group of 22 global experts examining more than 800 studies to evaluate the association between cancer and consumption of red meat and processed meat. Unlike the frenzied headlines that misunderstand cancer risk and classification, the actual WHO statement reported on carcinogenic (potential cancer causing) classifications, not the magnitude of risk. Specifically, they classified processed meat as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) because of the numerous studies with similar findings linking consumption to colorectal cancer. Because processed meat is now classified alongside cigarette smoking in Group 1, the inevitable confusion results with people assuming that smoking cigarettes is comparable to eating sandwich meat. But, ag...

Very few see the prime minister, already scathed by the Panama leaks, walking absolutely free. The PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf), that ever since 2013 has been trying to oust the Sharifs by hook or by crook, is already claiming victory Not once but twice in a week we have been informed by no less than the army chief himself that the military stands by democracy in Pakistan. First it was the PTI chief Imran Khan who gave the good news after calling upon General Qamar Javed Bajwa last Friday that democracy was, after all, safe and secure. And a few days later the general, while addressing Pakistanis at the High Commission in London, personally reassured the nation that democracy was inviolable. Are there some doubting Thomases that are worried about the future of democracy in the country and hence need to be reassured? We had (rightly) assumed that since two general elections have been held followed by peaceful transfer of power after Gen Musharraf’s exit in 2008, democracy is ...

“The thought that human beings are considering saving lives by killing millions of their fellow human beings is so preposterous that the words ‘saving life’ have lost all of their meaning. One of the most tragic facts of our century is that this ‘No’ to nuclear weapons has been spoken so seldom, so softly, and by so few.” — Henri J M Nouwen Pakistan is a nuclear state, with a stockpile of more than 120 nuclear weapons. There is no way these 120 weapons can be used without blowing up the whole planet. With four operating plutonium production reactors, Pakistan’s capacity to produce fissile material for weapons continues to grow. When would it stop? No one seems to know the answer. Lt-Gen Khalid Kidwai, Pakistan’s former director general of the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), remarked earlier this year that Pakistan has enough weapons to ensure that war in South Asia is no longer an option. These remarks suggested that Pakistan already has sufficient nuclear capability to ensure t...