Scherzando Karasu Freelance Writer

Published in Foreign Affairs Magazine By Scherzando Karasu When in 2008 the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) swept to power in the Pakistani general elections, it restored one of the world’s most populous nations to democracy and civilian rule, fulfilling the legacy of its late party leader, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in the run-up to elections. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, went on to win the presidency with the promise of change for a country in distress. Faced with the insurgency, economic failure, and a prolonged regional conflict, President Zardari has made Bhutto’s politics of reconciliation his own, thus steering Pakistan out of an enveloping crisis. “The democratic government on assuming power inherited a huge portfolio of challenges that confronted the nation,” President Zardari explains. “Pakistan was facing both a political economic and a social crisis and both had to be addressed.”Pakistan is paying a heavy price for its border with Afghanistan. Do...

by Scherzando Karasu  How a new breed of Emerging Market Telco’s are using the skills gained at home to expand internationally - shaking up the telecoms landscape and bringing wireless communications to ever more people.     While 2009 has been a tough year for the Telco industry worldwide a handful of emerging market companies has been posting some outstanding performances. With eleven of the twenty best performing companies this past year coming from the emerging markets and with four of the top seven drawn from amongst these regions.   Recent rapid emerging market economic growth in India, China, Latin America and the Gulf states has seen an assemblage of regional mobile operators emerge. Using the skills gained at home to expand internationally - shaking up the telecoms landscape and bringing wireless communications to ever more people. Having navigated the recession better than their peers in the developed markets these companies have expand rapid...