Mustafa Qadri

Zardari’s decision to visit Europe as Pakistan is ravaged by floods reflects the elite’s flagrant indifference to human suffering Mustafa Qadri, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 10.00 BST Contempt for human life is at the heart of Pakistan’s miseries. Although the relationship between rich and poor is complex and far from monolithically asymmetrical, fundamental inequalities make [...]

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China has been Pakistan’s firmest ally for 60 years – and it is to Beijing that Islamabad looks to counterbalance the influence of western largesse

Mustafa Qadri,
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 18 July 2010, 16.00 BST

Pakistan’s special relationship with the United States may have taken centre stage since the attacks of 11 September 2001, but in China it has another enduring great power ally. With Pakistan’s President Zardari returning from a visit of several days to China last week, it is worth considering the country’s other

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Ethnic and religious identity politics must not be allowed to sabotage Pakistan’s continued survival

Mustafa Qadri
The Guardian, Monday 26 April 2010 12:09 BST

Many an observer has written Pakistan’s obituary. Whether or not it was ever a good idea, Pakistan has managed to survive the past six decades. Although ethnic and religious identity politics has routinely threatened its dismemberment, there remains no credible option but to make Pakistan work.

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As US-led forces engage in a major offensive in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, commentators in Pakistan are still taking stock of the London conference and what it could mean for the role their country plays in their neighbour’s stability. Mustafa Qadri reports that many believe the road to such stability and security will inevitably run through Pakistan–and to the Taliban.

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The proposed truth and reconciliation commission is a fine idea. But a lack of historical distance will make it politically thorny

Grievance is at the heart of Pakistani politics. Almost all of the elites that dominate political life here have faced the deprivations – poverty, harassment, imprisonment or exile – experienced by the ordinary citizen at some point in their lives. When at the height of their strength, the powerful always invoke the myriad injustices that plague the common citizen to rally popular support.

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My analysis of NATO’s supply conundrum in Afghanistan was published on the Foreign Policy in Focus website today:

NATO’s Frayed Supply Line

Mustafa Qadri | April 1, 2009

There was much fanfare as President Barack Obama announced the eagerly anticipated “AfPak” policy review, what the White House terms is “a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Many have argued, however, that the new AfPak policy is very much a continuation of the old policy with a few tactical grafts from the occupation of Iraq.

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My latest column for The Guardian is on the quandaries of supplying NATO forces in Afghanistan:

NATO’s soft underbelly

Nato operations in Afghanistan depend on a precarious international supply system – and the Taliban have realised it

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Here is my report on Australia’s military presence in Afghanistan and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s visit to the United States this week, published in NewMatilda.com today:

Don’t Mention The War

They managed to avoid the sticky subject of a troop increase. However, despite growing opposition back home, Rudd has backed the Obama Administration’s questionable strategy in Afghanistan.

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President Obama and his national security advisers are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Baluchistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks into southern Afghanistan.

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“Are Pakistani women not human beings? Or are they not considered citizens, deserving equal protection under the constitution and law?”

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