Don’t understand how men like @adolfofrancoGOP can sit there and refuse to call this a terrorist act. They need to wake the hell up and confront the radicalization of white men in America!
Disappointed that even @SenSanders is falling for the “mentally unstable folks become radical white nationalists after watching @realDonaldTrump’s” rhetoric. I disagree. Hateful, not mentally unstable people, carry out terrorist attacks like the #ElPasoTerroristAttack.
I’m wondering how often outlets like @CNN and even folks like @jaketapper talked about “mental illness” when terror attacks were carried out by Muslim men? Pretty sure the answer is NEVER. But even when there’s a manifesto, a white terrorist’s act lead to convos on mental illness
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
🚨🚨🚨Interesting disclosures showing that @IPRI_Pak has hired a company in Washington DC to "engage with members of the United States government on behalf of the Client, specifically, improving relations between the US and Pakistan."
The value of the contract is $1.5m.
IPRI has already paid $600,000 as part of this agreement to "conduct outreach to the U.S. government."
The company hired is Team Eagle Consulting LLC, whose president Stephen Payne has signed the agreement with Amb. Dr. Raza Muhammad.
I am wondering if this is the same Stephen Payne who was a lobbyist for Musharraf back in the day and who was hired by a Pakistani-American who was backing the PTI.
The IMF report on Pakistan is out and its has some interesting pointers on where things are and where they are headed.
Some key points in the 🧵.
TLDR -- Pakistan's economy expected to be in flux for the next 2-3 years, at least, and faces significant risks.
This is the most important table of the report.
Gross external financing requirements are $80+bn in the next three years.
To meet these requirements, successive govts. must pursue prudent policies, meaning that "relief" and "growth" in the traditional sense is a tough ask.
The IMF states that "elevated gross financing needs continue to pose high risks to debt sustainability, particularly as fiscal and reserve buffers have been depleted." and that "the overall risk of sovereign stress is high..."
Was talking to an Insafian friend who wanted to understand why some of us continue to argue with them over democratic norms and constitutional rights, pointing out what they didn’t speak up for in the recent past.
Some points 👇🏽 that I hope Insafian friends will reflect on.
Friends in the PTI watched in near silence from 2017-22 when basic freedoms were suspended and people were harassed and bullied.
Many of us have were targeted by the party’s troll army.
I personally have.
And trolling is nothing compared to the real threats many people I know faced.
Acquaintances lost jobs. Some were threatened on phone calls. Some said “if you don’t hear from me in the next three days, pls make some calls.”
If you look at 🇮🇳, you’ll notice a growing divergence between coastal and heartland states.
This is because coastal states can trade more easily with the world and are more open due to that.
Now compare 🇵🇰’s coastal regions: Khi is a mess and Gwadar has no water…
Rather than invest in these coastal regions to grow economic, trade, and cultural integration with the world, Islamabad has just used these regions to extract resources as needed.
So long as the coastal regions remain mismanaged, 🇵🇰’s economic prospects will remain bleak.
Islamabad and Pindi remain obsessed with a heartland strategy, seeking connectivity to Central Asia via 🇦🇫.
Those markets offer a pittance compared to what can be achieved through coastal integration with the 🌏 economy.
Geoeconomics barely touches on maritime integration…