Pakistan’s Strategic Gains Post-May 2025 Conflict And The Social Media Challenge |
They say the first casualty when war comes is truth. We may not be at war anymore, but truth has certainly become a casualty of war. For a brief moment in time, May 7–10 to be exact, our fractured, polarised country came together to confront an external enemy. That crisis was the most significant one between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in several decades.
It saw extensive military action on the ground and in the skies and introduced Generation Z to a long-simmering conflict, which they had only read about in the history books. The four-day war brought the conflict straight onto their screens in real time. Social media exploded with memes, and there was a blurring of political and ideological divisions and internal fractures as we all waved the green flag and came together as one nation facing an enemy that clearly wanted to harm us.
Thankfully, the crisis that could have escalated into a full-blown war was defused by diplomatic engagement, primarily by the United States. It also resulted in unprecedented levels of misinformation and disinformation on both sides, but Pakistan came out of it euphoric – not only did we survive a vicious onslaught by a much bigger and richer rival, but we also gave it a bruising that led to our revival as a major regional military power.
Pakistan’s newfound respect in the world’s eyes has led the country to currently enjoy a favourable geopolitical........