Articles by Haris Gazdar

High politics in Pakistan will continue to provide its share of thrills and frills, but this is an appropriate moment to take stock of the politics of the most fundamental relationship that helps to shape all others - that between women and men. Social policy retain huge potential for challenging patriarchy in many subtle but fundamental ways, and the present array of political forces offers as good an opportunity as any for pushing ahead with such an agenda.

As Pakistan faces the prospect of returning to the "troika" system of governance after eight years of direct military rule, political parties have important decisions to make about fighting elections and electoral fraud. They also need to keep an eye on history to make the most of the chances that the end of direct military rule is likely to offer.

As the bullying military regime slowly unravels in Pakistan, the courageous ones are those that tenaciously insist on order in the place of disorder. The regime's weakness reveals, paradoxically, the strength of the idea of a functioning state with constitutional government.

If the increasing protests against his regime are any indication, Musharraf's days as Pakistan's president appear numbered. The transition to democracy has to be carefully managed, with elements of continuity intertwined with some necessary changes.

The killing of Akbar Bugti, the rebellious tribal chief and leader of the Baloch nationalist Jamhoori Watan Party by state security forces in his mountain hideout marks an important watershed in the troubled history of relations between the Baloch political movements, the colonial British Indian empire and the post-colonial Pakistani state. The circumstances leading up to his death and the events following after also reveal something about the contradictions within the establishment.