Leaders | Decline and fall 

Pakistan is out of friends and out of money

A botched election and an economic crisis show how low it has fallen

Supporters of PTI party protest against alleged rigging in general elections in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Photograph: EPA

PAKISTAN’S ELECTION on February 8th featured state-of-the-art avatars and TikTok videos, but the question it poses evokes an old theme. How long can the country’s relentless decline continue before it triggers a revolution, outside intervention or—hope against hope—political renewal?

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Out of friends and money”

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