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  White House Says Pakistan Is Developing Long-Range Missile Capable of Hitting the U.S. The decision to publicize U.S. intelligence at the end of President Biden’s term in effect leaves the matter to President-elect Trump, who slashed security assistance to Pakistan during his first term and demanded it take a tougher stance against terror networks on its territory. Wall Street Journal 23 December 2024 https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/white-house-says-pakistan-is-developing-long-range-missile-capable-of-hitting-the-u-s-0863d5eb Mass immigration is killing Europe – and the political class just don’t care I warned nearly a decade ago that our Continent was headed to destruction. Our leaders carry on regardless Douglas Murray Telegraph 23 December 2024 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/23/mass-immigration-is-killing-europe-and-the-political-class/ Boken ”The strange death of Europe” (Bloomsbury, 2017). Omistlig läsning om man vill förstå framväxten av alltifrån b...

The crisis is overwhelming Pakistan’s fragile economy, throwing millions of households into misery, shredding government finances and shutting down industry. China built and financed the plants, but Pakistan pledged to repay the cost—along with a rich premium on top—by buying the electricity produced by them for as long as 40 years.  Worse still, Pakistan promised to repay the cost over just 10 years, meaning it had to charge sky-high prices for the electricity. The deal was also financed in dollars.  Soon after the Chinese plants started coming on stream in late 2017, Pakistan’s currency devalued by about half, sending the dollar-denominated debt soaring. Wall Street Journal 3 December 2024 https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/pakistan-energy-debt-china-8cfcee3d Pakistan  https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/search?q=Pakistan+ Tillbaka till Rolfs länktips 3 december 2024 https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2024/12/rolfs-lanktips-3-december-2024.html

Although it frequently intervened to oust elected governments, many Pakistanis saw this as salvation from the country’s blundering politicians.  The military has suffered a catastrophic loss of prestige after the populist former prime minister Imran Khan directly challenged its influence. In response, Mr. Khan was ousted and jailed, and his party — despite winning the most parliamentary seats in a divisive February election — was shut out of a new civilian government It is common knowledge in Pakistani political circles that significant portions of the military leadership, powerful military families and rank-and-file officers are sympathetic to Mr. Khan’s right-wing, anti-American vision for the country, which included aligning Pakistan more closely with China and Russia.  Whether this internal rift can be healed will ultimately decide the direction and stability of Pakistan, which has nuclear arms and is the world’s fifth most populous. Army unity looks likely to hold for the...

Pakistan has 230m people, nuclear arms and borders with Asia’s two biggest powers, China and India.  Hopes that the toppling of Pakistan’s last military dictator—Pervez Musharraf—in 2008 would lead to a steady strengthening of democracy have been dashed.  The generals are ensuring their role as the most important political players  The Economist 6 Ferbruary 2024  https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2024/02/06/what-to-read-about-pakistan   Pakistan - The World Factbook (cia.gov)

 Earlier this year, Pakistan was on the verge of default before it secured yet another lifeline from the International Monetary Fund.  With the added pressures of catastrophic flooding and a future that promises more climate-related disasters, a bad situation has been getting steadily worse. In this Bloomberg Originals shorts video, Pakistan’s Endless Economic Crisis, we explore the current state of the nation’s economy, and whether there is a way up and out from its increasingly dire spiral. Millions are falling into poverty while young Pakistanis try and flee to Europe.  Meanwhile the government, long controlled by the military, is facing growing political polarization and a rise in terrorist attacks. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-12/video-can-pakistan-end-its-addiction-to-debt-in-time-to-avoid-catastrophe

After four devaluations in seven months and a forecasted financing gap of about $16bn over the next three years, Pakistan is facing another balance of payments crisis. https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/07/24/1532410200000/Belt-and-Road--or-debt-trap-/