The world has experienced an evolutionary period of almost two and a half centuries for putting in place acceptable systems of governance for smooth administration of various societies in the political, economic, judicial, moral, religious and security realms. For example, the USA, Europe and most of the developed world have been guided by the principles of liberalism, which mean free markets, free people (freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, etc.); and free and fair elections that lead to better decisions over the long run than governance by a handful of elites (monarchs, aristocracy, lords, barons, experts, civil-military bureaucrats, etc.). Baring a few odd examples, the world has come to a commonly accepted notion that 8 billion people all using their imagination and creativity to resolve a multitude of challenges are bound to find better solutions over the long run than the cleverest elites. Nevertheless, even conceived perfect solutions are prone to fall victim to imperfect and deceitful moguls. As experienced, even free market economies eventually led to buying up its rivals and other sectors of the economy and people were faced with monopolies controlled by robber tycoons; and that’s the opposite of freedom. Therefore, the Progressives consequently came up with a system which has been Liberalism + Progressivism giving out free markets, free people, and somewhat free and fair elections plus anti-trust to thwart concentrations of market power and lessen the vilest snags of capitalism.

More strangely, sooner than later the regulatory states became predacious by colluding with big business tycoons to enjoy the benefits of monopoly. That is where the countries like Pakistan with weaker economies and rampant corruption seem to have hit the iceberg as a result of collusion between the state functionaries and the local/ international mafias. According to a subject expert Dr. Toby Rogers, “This is much worse than regulatory capture. This is a modern form of fascism — without racism, nationalism, or even militarism (which makes it even more lethal and efficient than the German or Italian forms of fascism that we study in the history books). The state and the managers of capital now work together to amass wealth for themselves at the expense of society — under the guise of pandemics and public health”. That explains the monopoly of the powerful ruling elite on food, water, energy, health, agriculture, security and education fields in Pakistan; IPPs are the most recent example. That also explains why the affected people are walking around shocked and chaotic because there is no functional societal notion or a functional norm in sight that can help put in place an effective and incorruptible governance module.

The unholy marriage of convenience and mutual interests between the gluttonous national and international mafias including IFIs like the World Bank and IMF etc. have virtually become genocidal for the hapless people in poor countries. Consequently, despite professed noble claims both liberalism and progressivism appear as failed concepts because now the largest firms and the states appear to have merged into one entity. Nonetheless, the capitalists believe that Communism and Socialism also failed because societies run by a professional vanguard are a disaster. Some analysts even opine that “developed society is now a strange hybrid of the Middle Ages, the Third Reich and Brave New World. We have two classes — lords and peasants; we are in the midst of a very profitable genocide; and it’s all infused with surveillance technology, mind-altering drugs, and wall-to-wall propaganda. The urgent task for the global leaders is to define a political economy that addresses the failures of conservatism, liberalism, and progressivism while charting a way forward that destroys fascism and restores freedom and human flourishing”. Now it is obligatory for all the societies and states to figure out whether back to the basics is the answer or the elimination of the snags in the evolved systems in the last hundred years will provide the much needed relief to the people for a peaceful and well managed peaceful society.

The professed decline of Capitalism, over-stretched American Empire, splintering EU and the rise of BRICS, SCO and BRI Coalition as undeniable strong competitors has made the global Geopolitics quite puzzling for the hitherto limping economies and weaker states like Pakistan addicted to IFIs’ loans and others states in the similar boat. As a result of the unbearable conditionality imposed by the World Bank and IMF on Pakistan, the lives of ordinary people with meager resources and thus far the white collar middle class people have become unsustainable. On the one hand, the resultant creep-up on Pakistan national policies both internal and external has serious national security hazards; and on the other hand, consequent politico-economic instability has put the country on the brink of implosion without any option left to once again bury heads in the sand. The ruling elite’s unending affection with the capitalist and progressive masters notwithstanding, it is a high time for Pakistan’s national policy architects to make the right strategic politico-economic and overall national security choices keeping in view the much changed global Geopolitics and fragile internal fronts. Pakistan Zindabad!

Saleem Qamar Butt
The writer is a retired senior army officer with experience in international relations, military diplomacy and analysis of geo-political and strategic security issues.