In discussing the geopolitical environment in which Pakistan exists at this time in its 80-year history, we should distinguish between the near and far. In between these two we should also look at the middle — the Middle East. I will begin with the nearby which is made up of four immediate neighbours. Going counterclockwise from the north, the four neighbours are Afghanistan, China, India and Iran. All four, in some way or the other, have had an impact on Pakistan. Of the four, three have adopted religion as the source of governance. The most obvious case is that of Afghanistan where the Islamic extremists that go by the name of Taliban took control of the country on August 15, 2023, when the twice-elected president Ashraf Ghani fled from Kabul, leaving the advancing Taliban to move into the vacated presidential palace.

The Taliban brought their interpretation of Sunni sharia as their governing philosophy. The most disturbing aspect of this style of rule was the treatment of women who were placed very low in the social hierarchy. Women were to cover their bodies from head to toe and not go out of their homes unless accompanied by a male relative. Girls were not to attend school beyond the sixth grade; schooled at home, the emphasis was to be on religious instruction.

Like Afghanistan, Iran is also an Islamic state but the Islam it follows is Shiite, which has several differences from Sunnism. The main feature of the Iranian version of Shiite political system is the concentration of power in the hands of the clergy and the denial of democratic rights to........

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