Editorial

America is in Pakistan’s pocket—yet again

Trump may be isolating the U.S. from the world, tearing up alliances and redrawing the map on his own terms, but as others scramble for relevance, Pakistan has walked out the front door of the White House with an oil deal in hand, signalling a comeback for Pakistan's place on the American mantle.

In Trump’s eyes, the age of Indian exceptionalism is over. Islamabad is the new favourite — and it's not asking for applause, just access. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Stability, by any means necessary

The Field Marshal hasn’t come to charm headlines or peddle illusions; he’s come to stitch a broken republic back together, and in a region entranced by spectacle and the echo of its own bravado, his silence feels less like absence and more like authorship.

The Field Marshal's more difficult battle has been internal, and here too Munir has shown a style of leadership that is surgical rather than symbolic. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

New York has had enough of the old playbook

New York does not need another manager. It needs a mayor who understands who the city is really for—and who is willing to fight to make that true. We believe Zohran Mamdani is best placed to do that.

New York does not need another manager. It needs a mayor who understands who the city is really for — and who is willing to fight to make that true. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

A handshake, a medal, and the choreography of realpolitik

Trump may not win the Nobel. Oslo may smile and move on. But Pakistan has already reclaimed what it truly sought: relevance. The gesture may seem excessive, but it’s a quiet re-entry into a room it refuses to be locked out of: a step back into Washington’s good graces.

Trump can shift global discourse in a single sentence, even a foolish one. Pakistan knows this. Munir knows this. So rather than silence or scorn, they gave him something golden: a story to tell about himself. One that benefits them more than him. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

The bloody parasitic imperial whore

In a world which rewards champagne exiles and punishes resistance, Khawaja Asif chose authenticity over platitude. In doing so, he said what much of the global south quietly thinks: those who bathe in imperial perfume do not speak for the oppressed.

What Asif detonated with his words was that illusion—the fantasy—that imperial ghosts can masquerade as democratic messiahs. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

A trio for the ages

They didn’t posture or perform. They didn’t arrive with placards or pleadings. This trio threaded law, loss, and logic with the calibration of those who knew the weight of what they represent and the silence which usually follows them into Western rooms; this time, they are refusing to let that silence survive.

At every stop thus far, the trio of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Hina Rabbani Khar, and Sherry Rehman, has presented not a grievance ledger but a governance proposition. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Reason in a region addicted to fire

In a world drunk on the drumbeat of war, it takes uncommon nerve to whisper restraint. Yesterday, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari did just that—softly, firmly, devastatingly—from the podium of the United Nations.

Bilawal didn’t cast India as the eternal villain—but demanded that its actions be seen without varnish. In an age of digital disinformation, where narratives spin faster than missiles travel, that clarity is revolutionary. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Dar’s quiet line

Ishaq Dar, as Pakistan's foreign and deputy prime minister, resisted the urge, so common in crises, for maximalist posturing. He did not parade diplomatic telegrams for public approval. He did not pick Twitter fights. He kept Pakistan’s tone serious and sober.

While jets roared overhead, Ishaq Dar reached for the world’s ear, not its throat. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Free of Britain, recolonised in saffron

In Narendra Modi, the RSS has found not just a leader but a messiah; one with the political cunning of an autocrat and the populist charisma of a televangelist. Under his watch, textbooks have been rewritten, history sanitised, minorities demonised, and a billion people convinced that all of this is progress.

In Modi's new India, the concept of reason has truly been tarnished into oblivion. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES | DO NOT REPRODUCE

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown

Showcasing its air superiority, the Pakistan Air Force outmanoeuvred and outclassed India’s French Rafales, shattering the illusion of Hindutva-fuelled dominance in South Asian skies, proving this latest cross-border skirmish wasn’t just a dogfight—it was the moment the PAF reclaimed its throne above the clouds.

The PAF’s recent engagement with the Indian Air Force—what many are calling a “cold shock over warm borders”—was no accident. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES
Published by Thursday Media International thursday.media