The US-Israeli attack on Iran has accelerated the collapse of an international order that had already begun to break under the weight of endless wars, economic instability, technological rivalry and shifting global centers of power.
The unipolar world dominated by the United States after the end of the Cold War is steadily giving way to a new multipolar reality in which China emerges as the most important economic and technological power, while regional powers increasingly assert strategic autonomy. This transition represents one of the most consequential geopolitical transformations of the modern age, and for countries like Pakistan it poses both extraordinary dangers and unprecedented opportunities. Today, the world’s economic center of gravity is shifting towards Asia, and nations that fail to adapt to this new reality risk marginalization.
Pakistan stands at a historic crossroads. It possesses enormous strategic advantages: a young population, a critical geographic location linking China, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Arabian Sea, deep strategic ties with China, and enormous untapped human potential. Despite these advantages, Pakistan remains trapped in recurring cycles of economic crisis, political instability, institutional decay, weak governance, poor education standards and dependence on external financial assistance. The fundamental crisis facing Pakistan is intellectual, structural, institutional and civilizational.
We demand a thorough restructuring of governance, where true democracy is strengthened by empowering citizens at the grassroots level while ensuring that national politics is guided by competence, expertise and long-term strategic thinking rather than short-term populism. Real power must flow downwards to local communities, municipalities, district administrations and village councils that can directly address issues related to education, health care, sanitation, water management, urban planning and local economic development.
Yet the central issue is not simply the form of government, but the quality of governance itself. Pakistan urgently needs a technocratic culture where 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 basis for this transformation must be a complete revolution in education. No country in modern history has achieved sustainable prosperity without investing heavily in high-quality education and scientific capacity. Pakistan’s education system remains deeply flawed, with millions of children out of school, weak teacher training, outdated curricula, rote learning and insufficient emphasis on critical thinking, creativity, mathematics, engineering and scientific reasoning.
This whole model needs to change. Pakistan requires an educational renaissance that integrates science, technology, engineering, mathematics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, advanced manufacturing and entrepreneurship in all layers of the education system. Technical and vocational education must be elevated to a national priority. Hundreds of advanced technical institutes modeled on the Fachhochschule system of Austria and Germany should be established across the country, closely linked to industry and focused on practical industrial education. One such model university has already been established under my leadership, the Pakistan-Austria Fachhochschule at Haripur, Hazara.
In this transformation, China can play a central and historic role. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor should develop far beyond roads, ports and energy projects into a huge platform for technology transfer, industrial cooperation and export-oriented industrialization. A particularly transformative QUAD model that I have previously proposed would involve deep integration between Chinese industry, Pakistani industry, Chinese universities, and Pakistani universities in specialized product-oriented partnerships designed to produce high-value products for global markets.
Under such a framework, Pakistani universities would work directly with 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 therefore urgently move decisively away from dependence on low-value exports and imported consumerism to a high-tech value-added, export-oriented manufacturing economy. We must also realize that if we fail to master the new wave of AI-driven industrial transformation, we risk permanent economic irrelevance. China has already integrated artificial intelligence 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 centers of specialization in various fields in Pakistan was submitted by me several years ago to the IT Ministry and its feasibility study has been successfully completed. It must now be approved and implemented nationally with a sense of urgency.
National security must now be redefined. In the modern world, technological capability increasingly determines geopolitical influence. Cyber security, semiconductor technologies, AI-powered defense systems, drones, biotechnology, satellite systems and advanced manufacturing have become central pillars of strategic power. Pakistan’s scientific and technical capabilities must therefore become an integral part 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, the strategic partnerships and the geographical position needed to become one of the leading economies in the Muslim world and an important technological center in 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 like South Korea, Singapore and China transformed themselves because they understood that quality education, science, engineering, technological progress 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 emphasized in my articles over the last two decades. The 28th Amendment should primarily aim at achieving this new technological revolution so that we can stand with dignity in the community of nations.
The author is a former federal minister, Unesco science laureate and founding chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). He can be found at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pakinomist.tv’s editorial policy.
Originally published in The News
