Aid, a weapon?

Especially the rural poor will often not give a damn what happens outside their brick kiln geo-politically and confronting them with opinions on radical islamist outlets may be of little benefit for assessing general support of these groups. On top of that, if they have an opinion, they may have a totally different conception of these groups’ connections (the authors offer four choices: Kashmiri tanzeem, al-Qa’ida, TTP, sectarian outfits). The understanding of Pakistani militant groups is very poorly developed in Political Science courses in the West and even less understood is how the am log perceives them (before they are even asked to judge them as good or bad).

Angrez Writing on Pakistan’s Current Affairs – a future benchmark

In my eyes this is the most remarkable aspect of this book – in a time where he can be sure to sell adventure stories easily (and the title of the book pointed in this direction) to media that wants it’s chliche-lust satisfied (Greg Mortenson is I think the best latest example), he stayed sober and reported what was to report. On the other hand, his trip to Sehwan does not turn into a cheap defence of Pakistan as a sufi-not-terrorist country and while travelling he does not see the need to portray that beauty of the country at which foreigners marvel who expected Pakistan must look like hell considering what they read in the daily news coverage.

“How and why [...] can only be a matter of speculation.” – Teil II der Sino-Pak Serie

Um die pakistanisch-chinesischen Beziehungen wirklich realistisch einzuschätzen, braucht es in erster Linie einmal realistische Berichterstattung zu beiden Entitäteten unabhängig von ihrer Verbindung. Erst dann wird es auch für amerikanisches und europäisches Publikum möglich Intentionen abzuschätzen. Nur ist man da auf beiden Seiten noch sehr weit entfernt.

exchange rate: $ to PKR

The US – Pakistan relationship dubbed as a double game – little understanding is there for the fact that the flaws of this bond should be looked for on both sides and how they deal with each other.

Hitchens on Pakistan – on the frontier of poor polemics

It’s important to note, since Hitchens, in his to date last article on the issue, uses Rushdies’ Shame and the narrative concept of his Midnight’s Children, to transfer the appaling misconceptions he has so far introduced for the rather impersonal country (with it’s elite as a concept, not so much a Pakistani person) to the Pakistani as a person, or in a wider sense as a society.

Jemima Khan on Obama, Afghanistan, the WOT, Pakistan

Jemima Khan: The things you say sound great, Mr President. So why do you end up disappointing us?

Bastardization of Pakistan

Bastardization of Pakistan as it happens on Urbandictionary.com (and not Foreignpolicy.com magazine). Bastardization 2. The reduction of one’s status due to that person’s retarded act. Pakistan Single largest exporter of terrorists. Bastardization of Pakistani state and its people actually happened at the hands of these and these and these. The very people gifted with glorious [...]

mufeed matlab

Bloggers from Pakistan do tend to have a considerbale higher impact on reporting on the country, since they fill a void that is left by foreign journalists who consider the place too unsafe to report.

[Video] Pakistani Nation on the verge of a nervous breakdown. -Fatima Bhutto

har cheez ka review: Deutsche Literatur zu Pakistan – die unkonventionelle Betrachtung

Kamran Akmal ist IndoPak, Shahid Afridi AfPak und gemeinsam sind sie, wenn sie auch manchmal nicht einer Meinung sind, drauf und dran Sportgeschichte zu schreiben, die in Mitteleuropa ähnlich wenig wahrgenommen wird wie gelebter Sufismus, subkontinental Klassische Musik, Chaman Charras oder moderne pakistanische Photographie. Es sind dies auch nur Ausschnitte aus einem Gesamtbild, haar cheez ka review würde nicht nur die Umpires verwirren sondern vor allem den europäischen Betrachter. Aber sie deuten eine Diversität an, der die derzeitige Berichterstattung über das Land nicht im Ansatz gerecht wird.