Is punching above our weight a good thing? The question goes to the heart of the debate bubbling beneath the surface of our foreign policy euphoria. Pakistan's high-profile mediation between Iran and the United States has raised our international profile and diplomatic stature, but the bitter reality of domestic ailments continues to gnaw at the foundations of our newfound success.

On the first anniversary of our victory over India, we should draw the right lessons from the events of the last one year. There is little doubt that Pakistan's stock as a middle power has risen dramatically since the Marka-e-Haq vanquishing of our alarmingly unstable eastern neighbour. Since then, as the cliché goes, one thing has led to another and today, in May 2026, we are celebrated from Washington to Beijing and from Riyadh to Dhaka. Peace may still be elusive in the Gulf, but Pakistan has already extracted many of the dividends of this facilitation and mediation. There's no real downside from here on.

The real problems though lie closer to home. The contrast between external validation and internal struggles will only get sharper with time. This is the hard truth which no amount of official 'spinning' can dilute.

The dual nature of these problems provides us the story arc of the challenge. The first is obvious: economic, social and governance failures. Look no further. Just in the last few weeks we are........

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