In an era when nations project their influence not just through economies or armies but through culture, art, education, and digital narratives, Pakistan—a country of 240 million people—remains conspicuously absent. It is not just that Pakistan has a poor image abroad; it is that we barely register in the imagination of the world at all. This absence is not accidental. It is the result of a deeper, more troubling phenomenon: mental inertia—a collective unwillingness to adapt, evolve, and engage with the world on new terms.

This is not a lament for the loss of global prestige. It is a mirror we must hold to ourselves. Pakistan, the world’s fifth most populous country, with a diaspora scattered across the globe and a rich cultural, historical, and intellectual heritage, should be a natural soft power. Yet, it has no globally recognized intellectuals, artists, or institutions shaping global discourse. In the imagination of the average Westerner—or even many in the global South—Pakistan is not misrepresented; it is unrepresented.

Soft power is the ability of a nation to shape preferences through appeal and attraction. Bollywood shaping India’s image, K-pop and Korean dramas rebranding South Korea, Turkish serials weaving Ottoman nostalgia into global living rooms. Pakistan evokes little more than security concerns or nostalgic memories of cricketing legends long retired.

Despite a large, resourceful diaspora and a rich cultural history there is no Pakistani equivalent of Fareed Zakaria or Arundhati Roy. No Pakistani university ranks among the world’s intellectual powerhouses. Its artists rarely exhibit at global biennales; its writers seldom make the Booker shortlist. Even among its diaspora, assimilation often means invisibility. This erasure is not accidental—it is structural. We........

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