The first is the report of gruesome violence in the north west today, following two other major attacks in Peshawar this past week: PESHAWAR: At least 55 people were killed Friday in violence in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal region of Kyhber, which borders Afghanistan, local officials said. Twenty-two people were killed in a suicide attack [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

One thing worth noting about the PTI and its campaigning is the extent to which they’ve adopted gung-ho and fiery rhetoric. This is not just with regard to its characterizations of other parties and personalities, all of whom are some combination of corrupt, venal, self-serving, pusillanimous, and scum. This is also with regard to its [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

Well, it’s not every day a Pakistani wins an Oscar. Massive congratulations to Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for winning an Oscar for her short documentary “Saving Face”. Photo: Reuters Also, kudos to her for her fantastic speech, which wasn’t long or rambling or self-involved or stupid, unlike 95% of these acceptance speeches. She was graceful and [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

Last week, the government and opposition in Pakistan came together to carry out a very impressive achievement. Both houses of parliament, after some back and forth, passed the 20th amendment. Amongst other things, the 20th amendment provides for a fully independent election commission and an institutionalized, orderly transition by setting out the contours of the [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

I was doing some archival work and came across this gem of an editorial titled “Berlin Lion Taming” from the New York Times on November 23, 1932. Syndicated from: Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

I have a much shorter commute since I moved from Chicago. This change has both merits and demerits. Obviously, all else being equal, it’s better to spend less time on a bus or subway, if you can help it. On the other hand, less time on the bus and/or subway also means less reading for [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

One thing that bothers me about how Pakistan conducts its foreign policy is how narrowly it is focused on a few states. The four horsemen of Pakistan’s foreign policy are: the U.S., China, Saudi Arabia, and India. These states take an overwhelming and disproportionate level of our government’s interest, time, money, effort. Almost everything we [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

There is a conventional wisdom out there — parroted often by the likes of Imran Khan — that the Taliban and their local affiliates act the way they do because they are solely and exclusively motivated by the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan’s alliance with the U.S. By this logic, [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

There is a certain generation of Pakistani cricket fans — provisionally, we can say those born between 1975 and 1985 — that have grown up with a very particular worldview when it comes to cricketing miracles. In short, they believe that they are not miracles at all, mainly because they happened too often, and in [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

I think KG is trying to tell us all something: I can’t decide what it is about this interview that I love the most. Is it that KG started talking before Craig Sager had even asked a question, then realizing thirty seconds in that he was being asked a question? Is it that KG was [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

“History does not repeat itself. It rhymes.” — Mark Twain The funny thing about England-Pakistan cricket is that is has essentially become a caricature of itself. Even when everyone, cognizant of the history between the sides, tries to turn the temperature down and take the steam out of relations, some conflict has to arise. It’s [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

I’ve watched a number of Republican debates in this primary season. The first thing I would say about them is that they provide a very revealing window in a world I am very unfamiliar with. I don’t read right wing blogs (with the exception of Greg Mankiw’s econ blog) , I don’t really have many [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

I remember when drone attacks first started. The right wing press and email forwards were filled with fantastical news about these American robot planes, unmanned, killing people from the sky in Pakistan’s border regions. Oh, how I laughed. Demented right wingers. American robot planes? Please stop. They turned out to be right. I remember when [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt

Quelle surprise. Leo Messi has won his third Ballon d’Or in a row. Who would bet against a fourth, or a fifth? I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that Cruyff predicted he’d win seven overall. Barring injury, or boredom on behalf of voters – the same boredom that saw Charles Barkley and Karl Malone win [...]

Served By Asian Correspondent » Ahsan Butt