Ahmad Faruqui
Daily Times
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Past articles by Ahmad:
The return of Taliban and the end of liberalism
After eighteen years of failing to defeat aragtag group of terrorists known as the Taliban, the world's mightiest power has signed a "Peace D → Read More
Saudi Arabia after the Arab Spring
It spread to Egypt, and soon engulfed much of the Arab world. On March 11, 2011, what came to be known as the Arab Spring knocked → Read More
Conventional balance of power between India and Pakistan
A simple way to measure the conventional balance of power is to compare the size of the armed forces between the warring siblings. Currently, India’s armed force is twice as large as Pakistan’s; yielding a ratio of 2:1. The ratio has hovered at 2:1 for the past two decades. During the 1965 war, it was … → Read More
POTUS 41: The other president Bush
POTUS 41 had the distinction of seeing one of his sons being elected president of the US, and seeing another son, Jeb Bush, elected governor of Florida Bush 41 felt that the most fulfilling job he ever held was not the presidency of the United States but being head of the CIA George W Bush … → Read More
The six day war, 52 years on
Most armies are able to pull off a tactical surprise attack but strategic surprise is much harder to achieve. In 1967, Israel pulled off a strategic surprise against a much bigger enemy who was defeated in a week short of a day. The maxim, that surprise acts as a force multiplier, was confirmed yet again. … → Read More
The costs and benefits of being a praetorian state
Since its inception in 1947, Pakistan has been in a state of war with India. The two countries have fought two major wars and two minor wars over Kashmir. The wars have hardly moved the ceasefire line from that approved when a UN-approved ceasefire took hold in January 1949. In 1971, Pakistan fought a bigger … → Read More
How the oligarchs seized the reins of power
Since the departure of its founders early in its history, the oligarchs have been running the show in Pakistan. Initially it was the civil servants. Then came the feudal lords. And eventually the generals. Over time, the weight shifted away from the civil servants and the feudal lords to the generals. They called the shots, … → Read More
Why Pakistan became a praetorian state
Marvin Ott poses a provocative question in his recent article, “The price of strategic folly,” Despite the difficulties that attended its birth, could Pakistan have become a prosperous and secular democracy? That question has occupied historians for decades. A consensus has yet to emerge. Amazingly, back in April 1946 when the Cabinet Mission was holding … → Read More
It’s time to bury the hatchet
After the recent skirmish with India over Kashmir, Imran Khan did the right thing by returning the Indian fighter pilot. In his recent meeting with the press, which was cited in the New York Times, he said that there was no place for armed militants in Pakistan. And then he went on to make the … → Read More
The life of Cleopatra
While a modern visitor to both cities may find this hard to comprehend, back in Cleopatra’s days Rome was a backwater to Alexandria. Unlike Rome, the Egyptian capital was lined with shaded avenues, amazing mosaics, scholarly libraries and book stores. And the Egyptian advances were not just confined to architecture. They also encompassed social development. … → Read More
A memoir of Manila
About ten years ago, I was having lunch at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, Arkansas with some friends when I looked through the glass window and spotted a magnificent building. I was told it was the MacArthur House. I asked after whom was it named. With a smile, one of them said, after … → Read More
Revisiting the tragedy of December 1971
A man entered the commanding general’s chamber and handed him a chit: It read, “My Dear Abdullah, we have got you surrounded…Maj.-Gen. Gandharv Nagra.” The commanding general recognised the name. The two had been class mates at the Indian Military Academy. But how had the Indian forces broken through the security perimeter around Dhaka so … → Read More
Spring in Auckland and Sydney
When autumn comes to San Francisco, spring comes to New Zealand and Australia. When we boarded the 13-hour flight to Auckland, we knew were heading for a change of seasons. We reached there on a lovely Friday morning. Our room would not be ready until the afternoon. So we decided to stroll past the sailing … → Read More
Saddam Hussain’s legacy
At the conclusion of the Gulf War in 1991, General Norman Schwarzkopf, who had been the commander-in-chief of US Central Command, observed that Saddam is “neither a strategist nor is he schooled in the operational art, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general.” As the Iraq War approached in 2003, experts speculated … → Read More
A memoir of Chicago
On a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town in South Africa many, many Novembers ago I wondered if illegal immigration was one of the challenges facing the country. So I put the question to the person sitting next to me. He said, yes, plenty of people from the north want to migrate to South Africa … → Read More
Will Iran-Pakistan ties improve under Imran Khan?
The Prime Minister, less than a hundred days in office, has already visited Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China. The visits have secured funding to mitigate the twin financial deficits and strengthened ties with those countries. How about ties with Iran, Pakistan’s western neighbour with a population of some 80 million? The two countries share … → Read More
Saddam Hussain as tactician
Choosing to fight a conventional war with the US was a bad strategic choice by Saddam. Even then, he could have used appropriate tactics to slow the advancing armies so that diplomatic initiatives could be used to bring about a cease-fire. The Arab countries were in the process of gathering support to implement a UN-sponsored … → Read More
Stanley Wolpert’s book offers insight into the future of Indo-Pak ties
India and Pakistan have come to a fork in the road. Will the siblings continue the conflict that attended their birth 71 years ago and which has continued ever since, in the form of major wars, minor wars, insurgencies, and a cold war, indefinitely into the future, bringing with it all the hardships and deprivations … → Read More
Saddam Hussein as a strategist
The military outcome of the 2003, Iraq War was never in doubt. How could a country that had been under 12 years of sanctions take on the world’s mightiest country? And yet Saddam Hussein decided to fight the US, promising to turn Iraq into the graveyard of invaders. How does one reconcile Saddam’s grandiosity with … → Read More
Vignettes of New York City
The Boeing 757 touched down at the Newark International Airport on time. Through the aircraft window, the Manhattan skyline loomed in the distance, tinged with the evening light. The sky was overcast. Rain was in the forecast for tomorrow. To beat the traffic going into Manhattan, I decided to have dinner at the airport terminal, … → Read More