Sadiyon raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara — the age itself has been our adversary, century upon century, and still we have not ceased to be. Iqbal did not write this line as consolation. He wrote it as observation, almost as a law of nature, the way one might note
A Letter to My Younger Self (Zara umar-e-rafta ko aawaaz dena) My dear younger self, I write to you from a far shore of time. You will not recognise me at first. My hair has thinned, my stride has slowed, the body has begun to issue its own
A Satirical Playlet after Évian Editor’s Note This satirical playlet is inspired, in spirit and method, by George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible — two enduring works that used allegory, theatre, irony and moral exaggeration to examine power, fear, vanity, manipulation and public truth. The
A study in civilisational diplomacy — with comparative reflections on Kennan, Kissinger, Zhou Enlai, Gromyko, Talleyrand, Abba Eban, and Wang Yi I. The Making of a Statesman Abbas Araghchi was born in Tehran on 5 December 1962, into a family whose mercantile roots ran deep into Isfahan's carpet trade.
By Colonel Maqbool Shah, SM (Retd) | Jammu | 18 June 2026 I came to Mahmoud Darwish through Edward Said. It was Said — that incomparable cartographer of exile, dispossession, and intellectual dignity — who first opened for me the door to Darwish’s world. Once I began reading Darwish, the experience was almost
Jammu | 16 June 2026 Editor’s Note This is a long-form strategic essay that attempts to map the contours of an emerging world order in which industrial capacity, critical minerals, supply-chain chokepoints and China’s manufacturing depth are becoming central determinants of power. It examines the G7’s
The Lyric as Red Flag and Rose “Walo ha bagwano, navbahaaruk shaan paida kar; Pholan gul, gath karan bulbul, tithi samaan paida kar.” Come, O gardener, create the splendour of a new spring; Let flowers bloom and nightingales gather — create such a world. — Mahjoor, adapted from “Walo Ha Bagwano” Kashmir’
ये महफ़िल है ख़िरद-मंदों की महफ़िल (Ye mahfil hai khirad-mandon ki mahfil) यहाँ किस से कहूँ दिल की कहानी… (Yahan kis se kahun dil ki kahani...) There are rooms in which one is not rejected, only untranslated. The company is polished,
On the Longing for a Listener Who Truly Understands ये महफ़िल है ख़िरद-मंदों की महफ़िल, (Yeh mahfil hai khird mandoon ki mahfil)यहाँ किस से कहूँ दिल की कहानी… (Yahan kis se kahein dil ki kahani) - Minhaj Ali There are gatherings in
How Tehran May Deny Israel Victory Without Defeating It Frontline Strategy Special Issue on The Theory of War | 02 June 2026 “The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense; the last was the light of reason.” — Francis Bacon, “Of Truth” For
Palestine, Al-Aqsa, the Abraham Accords and the Age of Licensed Impunity Colonel Maqbool Shah (Veteran) | 01 June 2026 Power can dominate bodies for a time. It can flatten neighbourhoods, redraw military lines, rename conquest as security, and call displacement “humanitarian relocation”. It can arm one state to the teeth
Why Ankara Matters, Why New Delhi Must Take It Seriously, and What Comes Next Frontline Strategy | 31 May 2026 Turkiye is not a nuisance state. It is not merely a rhetorical ally of Pakistan or an episodic critic of India on Kashmir. It is a serious geopolitical actor: historically conscious,