For a moment, consider this estimated yet appetising list of deposits and resources. Gold: 5.9 million ounces. Copper: 412 million tons. Coal: 19.5 billion tons. Natural Gas: 34 trillion cubic feet. This is not all, there are others as well! A conservative estimate puts the valuation of these vast reserves over $1 trillion! One would…
Almost all Western movies have one common shot at the end: a gunslinger riding into the sunset! This is to cap the story and showcase that whatever actions, achievements and results were possible – were indeed accomplished. As a matter of fact, this signals an end of one chapter and the beginning of another –…
The 2008 film Swing Vote was not a box office success. It was also panned by critics in equal measure. Even after all that, one line from the script stuck with me. Before I get to that, some context. The movie revolves around a fictional US presidential election where the fate of the vote comes…
For over a year now opinion in the golf world has been divided over the breakaway LIV golf league. Players, commentators and general public have been voicing their opinions – sometime quite vociferously – for or against this new enterprise. The main reason for this divisiveness is the fact that LIV golf is backed by…
“To fight a protracted war”. This is the literal translation of a four-character Chinese Chengyu idiom. It is thought to have been conceived by Sun Tzu, the great Chinese military strategist. In his era-defining book “The Art of War”, Sun Tzu says that “the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”….
As far as détentes go, this one must be up there with the all-time greats. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been at loggerheads as far as memory can go. The leading Sunni and Shia powers in the region have even been at odds in the recent past as well. Consider. 2011 – During the Arab…
Since the discovery of oil in the second half of the 19th century in the US, the political power of oil has been on ample display. It has been the most critical dimension in shaping international, domestic and social life. Subsequent detection of oil reserves in Russia, Latin America and Middle East meant that the…
Across the world generally and in Pakistan specifically, the rate of polarisation within society can be readily judged by the exit of numerous of one’s friends from respective WhatsApp groups – particularly after a defining event in regular political discourse! Granted that in the Islamic Republic defining moments come and go but the recent bungling…
Circumstances are difficult, the road treacherous and the leadership inept. While this mantra has been mentioned many times in the past, it does bear repeating today. So for the uninitiated, here it is again circumstances are difficult, the road treacherous and the leadership inept! In the first corner of this boxing circus is the Pakistan…
Since the discovery of oil in the second half of the 19th century in the US, the political power of oil has been on ample display. It has been the most critical dimension in shaping international, domestic and social life. Subsequent detection of oil reserves in Russia, Latin America and the Middle East meant that…
