Pakistan: An Economy on the Brink

By Asad Ismi Following the economic collapse of Sri Lanka in mid-2022, Pakistan is close to sliding into the same disaster. There is US$3 billion remaining in the country’s foreign currency reserves that can pay for only two weeks of imports. Inflation is near 40 per cent. The value of the national currency—the rupee—is in […]

Pakistan’s Government in Military Hands–Again

By Asad Ismi Imran Khan, Pakistan’s leading ex-cricketer, became the country’s prime minister in August after his political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or the Pakistan Justice Movement, won an election marred by shocking violence—including two suicide bomb attacks in Balochistan province that killed or injured more than 180 people—and allegations of massive rigging and military […]

Careful What You Wish For

Canadian Business Wants a Notch in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In Asia as in Canada, there are Domestic and Foreign Policy Risks to Consider. By Asad Ismi IN MID-JANUARY, AT a forum in Shanghai, the Chinese government presented the latest additions to its global economic strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), […]

Bangladeshis Victims of Corporate Exploitation: Western companies responsible for deaths of garment workers

By Asad Ismi In April 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,129 garment workers and injuring more than 2,500. The building contained four garment factories. This was the worst industrial disaster in Bangladesh’s history, and the worst in the garment sector’s history. As of late January, workers and their families were […]