The real reason Twitter/X is currently shut down in Pakistan? The political opposition's success with using it.

Pakistan's finance minister pledges 'aggressive reforms' with IMF chief -- 'broadening the tax net, privatizing loss-making state-owned enterprises, expanding social safety nets and facilitating the private sector'
dawn.com/news/1828139/a…

The 'concerns' that have shut off Twitter/X in Pakistan for the past two months are undemocratic.

An array of perspectives on the impact of Iran’s attack on Israel, by colleagues across Brookings Foreign Policy w/help from a few friends in Brookings Econ & Brookings Governance

brookings.edu/articles/the-i…

PML-N had a choice about who the next generation of its party leadership would be. Because it chose the younger Sharifs, it lost some of its most professional and seasoned politicians. It's a real loss.

America’s belief in the military as the guarantor of stability in Pakistan has hardly borne out. In the last two years, the military has generated the worst political crisis Pakistan has faced in decades. brookings.edu/articles/pakis…

Blinken and Dar call readout from State reaffirms commitment to 'robust partnership' between US & Pakistan, mentions 'cooperation on counterterrorism, expanding our trade and investment partnership, and advancing women’s economic security and empowerment.'
state.gov/secretary-blin…

'Pakistani voters put their faith in democracy in 2024, but they were yet again relegated to voting in the margins of the constraints the country’s military establishment had drawn for them.' Madiha Afzal
brookings.edu/articles/pakis…

Since September 2023, over 540,000 Afghans have been forced to return from Pakistan.

60% of these returnees are children and adolescents, putting further strain on Afghanistan’s already stretched education system.

Every child deserves access to education.

#EducationForAll

The US govt deflecting to Pakistan’s Election Commission or its judicial process is meaningless when those institutions often function as an accessory to the military, as they have this election cycle.

On Pakistan’s democracy, its military, and America:
brookings.edu/articles/pakis…

Pakistan’s military projects itself as the country’s most competent institution to both domestic & foreign audiences, & America has internalized that notion.

Yet America’s belief in the military as the guarantor of stability in Pakistan has not borne out. brookings.edu/articles/pakis…

The answer to Pakistan's woes is not to create new, ad-hoc bodies like the SIFC, hoping that this, finally, will be a magic bullet. The answer is less flashy: reform and strengthen existing institutions, and recognize that this will take time.

The Special Investment Facilitation Council has no business looking at education policy. Not least because of the composition of its membership.

On the IHC judges' letter: An inquiry commission is a road to nowhere.

The premise that a Taliban controlled Afghanistan would not once again become a staging ground for terrorism beyond Afghanistan's borders was always faulty.