In early November a handful of states, among them Virginia and New Jersey, conducted elections for governor and other key positions. Both these states had been reliably in the hands of the Democratic Party for the past several election cycles.

However, in these elections the governorship of Virginia switched to the Republican Party in a surprising result, and in New Jersey the incumbent Democratic governor barely squeaked through. These results have caused much soul searching within the Democratic Party. After all, it was less than a year ago that Joe Biden won in these states with wide margins. Read more…

On October 18, retired American general Colin Powell passed away due to complications from Covid. He was 84 years old and had been treated for blood cancer which had compromised his immune system. Powell was one of the most respected figures from recent American military and diplomatic history

Over the years, Colin Powell served as national security adviser to former president Ronald Reagan and as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the highest military rank in the US, under former president George H W Bush.

In 2001, then president George W Bush appointed him as the secretary of state, making him the country’s highest diplomat. Read more…

Last week, after much back and forth, the US Congress passed a resolution to increase the government’s borrowing limit so it could continue to operate. Republicans in the Senate had been blocking the effort, threatening a shutdown of the government and potential default on US government obligations. Had that happened, the impact on the US economy would have been severe, even catastrophic. This drama plays out every time a Democrat is in the White House.

While the Democrats have a narrow majority in both houses of Congress, Senate rules allow a minority to derail most legislation. In recent years, getting anything passed through Congress has become a near impossibility. All actions by Congress members are taken with an eye to the next election. And, with elections every two years, this turns out to be a true recipe for ongoing dysfunction. Read more…

On September 21, US President Joe Biden delivered his first address to the UN General Assembly. In his speech, he laid out the vision for how the US plans to lead the world with more engagement and collaboration, with a view to building back a better world.

Most of the world seems to have been relieved at not having to put up with the bluster of the former US president, Donald Trump. Yet, eight months into the Biden Administration, allies and foes alike are still trying to get the measure of the new president and his approach to the world. While Biden has been in public life and leadership roles for almost five decades, his approach to the presidency is still evolving. While his rhetoric is one of collaboration and shared goals, his actions are starting to worry some. Read more…

The past few weeks have been tumultuous for the US. The abrupt and ill planned withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war, and the rapid takeover by the Taliban, sparked soul-searching in the US – what exactly was accomplished by the tremendous loss of life and treasure.

The project to modernise a deeply traditional and tribal society turned out to be futile in the end. Of course, a section of the Afghan society was touched – and perhaps Kabul was transformed – but most of the Afghan society saw little benefits from the vast sums of foreign money that flowed into the country over the past 20 years. Read more…

The rapid collapse of the US-supported government in Kabul and take over by the Taliban has taken everyone by surprise. The US was caught entirely flatfooted. Having just evacuated the last of its troops from the country, it was forced to send back thousands of soldiers to run the largest evacuation operation in recent memory. Even the Taliban themselves were not expecting to be in a position of governing the country so soon.

Tens of billions spent by the US government in training and establishing a professional military in Afghanistan seemed to have been for naught. President Ashraf Ghani himself took a convenient flight out of the country to the horror of the US leadership. Read More…

Aftab Hassan Usman (1954-2021): on August 6, I received a message from Seher Usman, my friend Aftab Usman’s daughter, simply stating “Papa has passed away.” Aftab had been struck by the coronavirus just a few days earlier and had been hospitalized. I had remained in close touch with the family and was hopeful all would turn out fine. But, in the end that wasn’t to be. I lost one of my closest and dearest friends.

Our friendship went back over 50 years, from the time we had both been teenagers, studying at Gordon College in Rawalpindi.

Over these many decades, our lives took many twists and turns. Aftab moved to Brussels with his parents, and I went to Ankara for studies. Yet we always managed to keep in touch. Aftab built a successful career at a prominent public relations firm in Europe and then moved back to Pakistan in the 1990s. Read more…

Of the many ideas that loom large in the American psyche, the notion of freedom is close to the top. We hear too often utterances such as “we are a free country,” or “we are free to choose”. Not only do Americans believe they are a free country, but the implication is that others are not or at least not as free, liberal democracies of the world included.

It is worth reflecting on whether there can be such a thing as absolute freedom in a modern, civilized society. America itself is full of examples where the government or some administrative body mandates certain behaviors. For example, one cannot drive a car without a valid drivers’ licence, or without car insurance. Wearing seatbelts is also required by law. When driving on a public road, one must drive on the right-hand side. Without some restrictions, motorized travel itself would be impossible. Read more… 

On Tuesday, July 27 the US Congress held the first hearing of the Select Committee set up to investigate the events of January 6, 2021. On that day a violent mob of Trump supporters assaulted the Capitol building resulting in injuries and even death of several civilians and police officers who were on duty to protect the building.

Four officers who were on duty on January 6 and were brutally assaulted by the Trump sign- carrying mobs testified before the Select Committee. They recalled in great detail what they had endured at the hands of the mob. The entire spectacle was carried live on TV across the world. There probably isn’t another such destructive act of insurrection that has been better documented in recent times. Read more…

With US forces almost entirely out of Afghanistan, the Taliban are resurgent again. All indications are they may be headed for an outright military victory against the regime in Kabul. However, it is encouraging to see talks at reconciliation between the two groups in Doha. Any attempt by either group to exercise total control over the country could only lead to further violence.

Sadly, after the exodus of the Soviet army in the early 1990s, infighting between various Afghan groups caused widespread death and destruction and led to the takeover by the Taliban. Read more…