It's a new world

The US-Israel attack on Iran has accelerated the collapse of an international order that had already begun to fracture under the weight of endless wars, economic instability, technological rivalry and shifting centres of global power.

The unipolar world dominated by the US after the end of the Cold War is steadily giving way to a new multipolar reality in which China is emerging as the principal economic and technological force, while regional powers are increasingly asserting strategic autonomy. This transition represents one of the most consequential geopolitical transformations of the modern age, and for countries such as Pakistan, it presents both extraordinary dangers and unprecedented opportunities. Today, the economic centre of gravity of the world is shifting towards Asia, and nations that fail to adapt to this new reality risk marginalisation.

Pakistan stands at a historic crossroads. It possesses immense strategic advantages: a young population, a critical geographical location connecting China, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Arabian Sea, deep strategic ties with China and enormous untapped human potential. Yet despite these advantages, Pakistan remains trapped in recurring cycles of economic crisis, political instability, institutional decay, weak governance, poor educational standards and dependence on external financial assistance. The fundamental crisis facing Pakistan is intellectual, structural, institutional and civilisational.

We require a profound restructuring of governance in which genuine democracy is strengthened by empowering citizens at the grassroots level while simultaneously ensuring that national policy is guided by competence, expertise and long-term strategic thinking rather than short-term populism. Real power must flow downward to local communities, municipalities, district administrations and village councils that can directly address issues related to education, healthcare, sanitation, water management, urban planning and local economic development.

Yet the central issue is not merely the form of government but the quality of governance itself. Pakistan urgently needs a technocratic culture in which scientists, engineers, economists, educators and technology experts play leading roles in shaping national policy, as has happened in Iran. The ministries responsible for education, science and technology, finance, industry, energy, digital transformation, agriculture and healthcare should increasingly be led by ministers and secretaries who are international authorities in their respective fields. A powerful technocratic government is the order of the day.

The foundation of this transformation must be a complete revolution in education. No country in modern history has achieved sustainable prosperity without investing massively in high-quality education and scientific capability. Pakistan’s educational system remains deeply flawed, with millions of children outside schools, weak teacher training, outdated curricula, rote memorisation, and insufficient emphasis on critical thinking, creativity, mathematics, engineering and scientific reasoning.

This entire model must change. Pakistan requires an educational renaissance that integrates science, technology, engineering, mathematics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, advanced manufacturing and entrepreneurship into every layer of the educational system. Technical and vocational education must be elevated to national priority status. Hundreds of advanced technical institutes modelled after Austria's and Germany’s Fachhochschule system should be established across the country, closely linked with industry and focused on practical industrial training. One such model University has already been established under my stewardship, the Pakistan-Austria Fachhochschule in Haripur, Hazara.

In this transformation, China can play a pivotal and historic role. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor should evolve far beyond roads, ports and energy projects into a vast platform for technological transfer, industrial cooperation, and export-oriented industrialisation. A particularly transformative QUAD model, as proposed by me previously, would involve deep integration between Chinese industry, Pakistani industry, Chinese universities and Pakistani universities in specialised product-oriented partnerships designed to manufacture high-value products for global markets.

Under such a framework, Pakistani universities would work directly alongside industry to develop technologies, improve manufacturing processes, and train highly skilled engineers and scientists. Chinese technological expertise combined with Pakistan’s strategic location and youthful workforce could create powerful export-oriented industrial ecosystems capable of transforming the country’s economy within a generation.

Pakistan must thus urgently move decisively away from dependence on low-value exports and imported consumerism towards a high-technology value-added, export-oriented manufacturing economy. We must also realise that if we fail to master the new wave of AI-driven industrial transformation, we risk permanent economic irrelevance. China has already integrated AI deeply into manufacturing, logistics, urban planning, healthcare, agriculture, surveillance systems and financial services.

Pakistan must urgently develop its own national AI strategy and integrate artificial intelligence across its industries, educational institutions, governance systems and research infrastructure. A Rs40 billion project to establish AI centres with specialisation in different fields across Pakistan was submitted by me several years ago to the IT ministry, and its feasibility study has been successfully concluded. It must now be approved and implemented nationwide with a sense of urgency.

National security itself must now be redefined. In the modern world, technological capability increasingly determines geopolitical influence. Cybersecurity, semiconductor technologies, AI-driven defence systems, drones, biotechnology, satellite systems and advanced manufacturing have become central pillars of strategic power. Pakistan’s scientific and engineering capabilities must therefore become integral components of national security planning. The same strategic focus that enabled Pakistan to develop nuclear and missile capabilities must now be directed toward civilian scientific and industrial transformation.

Pakistan possesses the human talent, strategic partnerships and geographic position necessary to become one of the leading economies of the Muslim world and a major technological hub of Asia. But the window of opportunity will not remain open indefinitely. History is now moving rapidly, and only nations capable of intellectual courage, scientific vision, and institutional discipline will shape the future rather than be shaped by it.

The greatest lesson of the modern era is that the real wealth of nations no longer lies primarily in natural resources, military hardware or geographic size. It lies in human capital, scientific knowledge, technological competence, innovation ecosystems and the capacity to manufacture sophisticated high-value products for global markets. Countries such as South Korea, Singapore, and China transformed themselves because they understood that quality education, science, engineering, technological advancement and innovation are the true engines of national power.

Pakistan must now embrace the same path with absolute clarity and determination, as I have repeatedly emphasised in my articles over the past two decades. The 28th Amendment should be aimed primarily at achieving this new technological revolution, so that we can stand with dignity in the comity of nations.

The writer is a former federal minister, Unesco science laureate and founding chairperson of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). He can be reached at: [email protected]

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Originally published in The News