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.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240217_LDP503.jpg)
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?
Explore more
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Out of friends and money”
Leaders February 17th 2024
- The growing peril of national conservatism
- Europe must hurry to defend itself against Russia—and Donald Trump
- Pakistan is out of friends and out of money
- A new answer to the biggest climate conundrum
- As San Francisco builds the future of technology, can it rebuild itself?
- Another bank subsidy America should kill off
- How not to do a megaproject
More from Leaders
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240914_LDP502.jpg)
Mario Draghi’s best ideas are those Europe finds least comfortable
The danger is that it picks the easy ones
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_LDD004.jpg)
The Labour government’s worrying lack of ambition in Europe
Sir Keir Starmer is trapped by the mindset of the post-Brexit years
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_LDP502.jpg)
A make-or-break moment for Mexico
In America’s biggest trading partner the rule of law and democracy are under attack
The real problem with China’s economy
The country risks making some of the mistakes the Soviet Union did
What to do about America’s killer cars
The country’s roads are nearly twice as dangerous as the rich-world average. It doesn’t have to be that way
How to deal with the hard-right threat in Germany
As extremists win more votes across Europe, forming moderate and effective governments is getting harder