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Maleeha Lodhi

Maleeha Lodhi

Dawn

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Back to square one

Back to square one

A return to confrontational politics and political turmoil will have enormous costs for the country’s economic and political stability.

03.02.2025 300

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Risks to Gaza truce

Risks to Gaza truce

Annexation of even part of the West Bank by Israel will be a deal breaker.

27.01.2025 300

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Trump ushers in an era of disruption

24.01.2025 100

Arab News Pakistan

Maleeha Lodhi

Trump, Act II

Trump, Act II

Will Trump’s foreign policy be destabilising for the world as is being widely anticipated?

20.01.2025 400

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Dealing with the Taliban

Neither side wants a breakdown in relations, so diplomatic re-engagement is a compulsion.

13.01.2025 400

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Foreign policy dilemmas

A NUMBER of foreign policy challenges lie ahead for Pakistan in 2025. They have to be met in an unstable global environment of mounting...

06.01.2025 400

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

A volatile world in 2025

THE world seems more unstable and unpredictable today than at any time since the end of the Cold War. Heightened geopolitical tensions, wars in...

30.12.2024 400

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Hope amid challenges

https://arab.news/yn72e The new year begins on a hopeful note in Pakistan with the government and opposition initiating a dialogue for the first...

25.12.2024 10

Arab News Pakistan

Maleeha Lodhi

A national compact for 2025

THE new year starts with the country facing multiple challenges that need to be met in a politically calm environment. The complex nature of...

23.12.2024 20

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Year of unmet challenges

2024 saw intensifying political tensions and turmoil in Pakistan, which sharpened polarisation in the country and made political stability elusive....

16.12.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Democratic backsliding

WHAT is the state of Pakistan’s political system today? Is the country experiencing significant democratic erosion? Is this different from the...

09.12.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

After the showdown

LAST week’s showdown between the government and opposition may have ended sooner than anyone expected but it left serious unresolved problems in...

02.12.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Siege mentality

BARRICADING the capital, using cargo containers to block roads, closing highways, breaking up protest rallies, banning public gatherings, arresting...

25.11.2024 8

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Top reads this year: From Middle East turmoil to the great meta-problem

https://arab.news/gaq7g As the year comes to an end, among the non-fiction books I read in 2024, three were the most interesting and insightful. ...

24.11.2024 10

Arab News Pakistan

Maleeha Lodhi

The impasse persists

FOR all the speculation during last month’s SCO summit about a thaw in Pakistan-India relations, there has been no melting of the ice between the...

18.11.2024 7

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Bracing for Trump 2.0

THE world was already bracing for Donald Trump’s return to power. And it is a stunning comeback. His clean sweep in the election, winning the White...

11.11.2024 40

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Politics of ‘nepo-babies’

PAKISTAN’S politics is still dominated by dynasties and family networks that manage to retain their grip over the country’s top political offices...

04.11.2024 7

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Illusion of power

THREE words said it all. “Judiciary’s wings clipped.” This was the banner headline in an English newspaper after adoption of the controversial 26th...

28.10.2024 20

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Did the ice melt between Pakistan and India?

https://arab.news/pz7nc Much speculation was fueled by the recent visit to Islamabad of India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar to attend a meeting...

26.10.2024 7

Arab News Pakistan

Maleeha Lodhi

A tired superpower?

BOB Woodward writes the ultimate ‘insider’ accounts about American presidents, politics and foreign policy. He is one of the duo of journalists who...

21.10.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Kashmir’s no to BJP

THE resounding message from occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s recent legislative elections is rejection of India’s Aug 2019 action that robbed the...

14.10.2024 8

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Averting a catastrophe

THE Middle East is precariously poised on the brink of a full-blown regional war that has been widely feared for months. Israel’s assassination of...

07.10.2024 6

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

A dangerous moment

THE contrast could not have been more telling. In his farewell speech to the UN General Assembly last week, President Joe Biden spoke proudly about...

30.09.2024 7

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Words and reality

https://arab.news/jp8ac The world is passing through an unsettled time with mounting geopolitical tensions and economic volatility creating a...

25.09.2024 10

Arab News Pakistan

Maleeha Lodhi

Fatal distraction

AT a time when the country is facing mounting economic, political and security challenges, the government has been expending most of its energy on...

23.09.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Regaining global relevance

PAKISTAN is becoming increasingly marginalised in international affairs. It is no longer able to shape the strategic environment in its...

16.09.2024 4

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Confront and engage

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s recent visit to Beijing indicated an effort by both countries to de-escalate tensions ahead of the...

09.09.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Foreign policy adrift

CHARACTERISED by drift, Pakistan’s foreign policy appears to be rudderless. It has neither clarity nor coherence to meet complex regional and...

02.09.2024 5

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Election under occupation

INDIA’S election commission has announced that polls to elect the legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on Sept...

26.08.2024 20

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Pakistan’s piecemeal economic management

https://arab.news/byce2 Amid some uncertainty about a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government hopes the Fund’s executive...

25.08.2024 3

Arab News Pakistan

Maleeha Lodhi

Lasting legacy

WITH the Middle East in turmoil and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza having entered its eleventh month, a book that examines the region’s political...

19.08.2024 5

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Raising the stakes

ISRAEL’S criminal actions have again pushed the Middle East to the edge of the precipice, unleashing fears of a wider conflict. Ten months of...

12.08.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

A matter of life and debt

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurungzeb acknowledged last week that Pakistan was seeking debt relief from China and other bilateral lenders to plug a...

05.08.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Frozen ties

PROSPECTS for diplomatic engagement between India and Pakistan remain bleak. Any expectation that a multilateral summit that Islamabad will host in...

29.07.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

High-risk game

IF the Shehbaz Sharif government goes ahead with the decision to ban Imran Khan’s PTI, it could plunge the country into renewed turmoil, even...

22.07.2024 4

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi

Voting for change

IN what is regarded as the biggest election year in history, with voters in over 70 countries casting the ballot in 2024, some common features have...

15.07.2024 10

Dawn

Maleeha Lodhi