Political Analysis and Global Affairs

  At Jinnah International Airport, a smartphone can look like the perfect travel wallet. The boarding pass sits on its screen, while family addresses often remain buried inside WhatsApp. My International Travel Checklist for Seniors begins with a less comfortable possibility: the phone may stop helping at the exact moment a tired passenger needs it most. Airport travel concentrates pressure into small spaces. A dead battery can turn an address into missing information; weak roaming can make a family contact unreachable. I do not see paper as an alternative to technology. I see it as a second route to information when the first route fails. Older travellers face another problem. Fatigue makes simple recall harder after immigration queues or a long connection, while medication schedules add another layer of responsibility. A small paper record in hand luggage can reduce that burden without becoming a thick travel file. The useful question, then, is not what a senior traveller can wr...

  A Schengen travel insurance certificate may show substantial medical coverage while still excluding treatment linked to diabetes, hypertension or existing heart disease. Travellers with pre-existing conditions should read the exclusions before buying a policy. My Schengen policy carried €30,000 of medical cover. Then I read what it did not cover. The Adamjee certificate had travelled to Germany with me before. I would slide it into the same folder as my passport and visa, notice the €30,000 medical figure, and move on. On my last review, I stopped at the exclusions. I have diabetes. I also have high blood pressure, and I have previously had a coronary stent. My Adamjee Schengen Active wording excluded medical treatment related to pre-existing conditions, which immediately changed the meaning of the €30,000 figure printed prominently on the certificate. The policy was genuine. Adamjee is a major Pakistani insurer, and its Schengen product serves a legitimate purpose. The uncomfort...

  Pakistan moved significant political and fiscal authority from Islamabad to the provinces, but local governments remain comparatively weak. The deeper question behind the new-provinces debate is whether creating more provincial capitals will bring power closer to citizens or simply create new centres of authority. Pakistan transferred enormous authority from Islamabad to the provinces after 2010. It never completed the second journey, from provincial capitals to elected cities and districts. Creating more provinces may reduce administrative distance, but without deeper local devolution it could simply produce more centres of power. I Look at This Debate From Karachi A broken road in Karachi can become a lesson in Pakistani federalism surprisingly quickly. I have often watched people complain about a municipal problem and then struggle with the next question: which institution actually controls it? The elected local government may be visible, but provincial departments, speciali...

  Pakistan’s strategic paradox: Defence cooperation with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye and renewed military relevance have increased Pakistan’s geopolitical weight, but economic weakness and institutional constraints raise a harder question: can Pakistan convert strategic importance into lasting national power A few days ago, I was reading a discussion about Pakistan's growing military importance when one comment stopped me. The conversation had moved quickly from Pakistan's performance against India in May 2025 to the new Saudi Arabia-Türkiye-Pakistan defence relationship. Then a reader asked a less comfortable question: what good is all this external importance if Pakistan remains weak inside? I looked away from the screen for a moment. Karachi outside offered its usual contradiction, a huge commercial city pushing ahead despite expensive electricity, broken infrastructure and the daily friction that businesses learn to absorb. Pakistan can matter enormously on a strategic map w...

 A practical 2026 guide to Schengen Europe and North America, including the real risk of phone searches. What first-time travelers should expect at immigration in Schengen Europe, Canada, and the United States in 2026, including documents, cash declarations, and the real risk of phone searches. I reached Munich Airport from Karachi in 2023 with my passport ready and supporting papers within reach. Before that journey, I had one simple question in mind: what happens at immigration when a Pakistani visitor reaches Europe for the first time? The answer proved far less dramatic than many travel videos suggest. I returned to Germany in 2024. Nobody asked to see my smartphone on either trip. An office colleague who has travelled across more than 20 European countries also visited the United States and Canada in 2024 without a phone search. My brother-in-law and his family had a similar experience when they travelled to the United States and Canada during 2024. Personal experience cannot...

  Conflicting early experiences show why Riyadh Air’s real challenge lies in making premium service consistent. Riyadh Air’s early passenger reviews reveal a gap between its polished premium product and the challenge of delivering consistent service across a growing network. A Boeing 787 touched down in Riyadh, and aviation reviewer Josh Cahill immediately reached for unusually strong words. He said several tray tables opened during the impact and an oxygen-mask compartment released above one seat. Riyadh Air Early Reviews suddenly had a dramatic image around which an argument could form. I would resist the temptation to call the landing unsafe because a passenger video cannot establish a technical hard-landing event. Cahill had praised much of the flight before touchdown. He liked the economy seat and called its 4K entertainment screen exceptionally sharp. Free internet also impressed him. His later criticism raises a harder question than whether one pilot made a firm landing: ca...

   Step-by-step guide to filing your FBR Income Tax Return yourself for Tax Year 2026 in Pakistan, including income reporting, wealth reconciliation, tax payment, and final submission. Updated: 23 August 2026 I have watched people open IRIS, start typing figures from memory, and reach the wealth statement only to discover that nothing reconciles. The salary looks right. The tax deducted looks right. Then a bank balance, property purchase, foreign remittance, or vehicle appears and the numbers stop making sense. There is a better way. For many salaried Pakistanis and people with straightforward income, filing an income tax return without a tax consultant is possible. The real work does not begin with pressing buttons in IRIS. It begins with collecting the right information and understanding how income, assets, expenses, and taxes already paid fit together. This guide covers Tax Year 2026 , which means income and financial activity from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 . FBR's normal...