The political landscape in Pakistan has consistently proven to be a treasure trove for all kinds of

journalistic adventures, and for good reason. With such interchangeable but yet-compelling
protagonists and antagonists, as well as As Pakistanis, we enjoy varying degrees of insight into our
shared national imagination. This is because of the innate risk that one’s writing, however passionate,
is likely to go unnoticed. With the Presidential Election of 2020 still 13 months away, our Press and
media circles can rest comfortably in the knowledge that ordinary Pakistanis, or at least those with no
direct stake in the States, have barely anything more than cold indifference to offer. A cursory glance
at the amount of coverage being accorded to American politics, even to Trump’s possible
impeachment, is an indictment of the average Pakistani’s stake in global citizenship. Lack of incentive
notwithstanding, where does one even begin? So much has happened since that fateful night in
November, 2016. The serene and “hip” appeal of the Obama years appears a distant memory. A self-
styled “extremely stable genius” from the borough of Queens enjoys access to the country’s nuclear
codes, and even more dangerously, Twitter. Suffice it to say that the majesty of the Oval Office lies in
tatters, dampened most cruelly by the glamour of Margo-La and Trump Tower.

At this point, however, I cannot but ask myself a simple question? Am I so blinded by the sheer
privilege of my liberal arts education that I expect a rapidly diminishing middle class in Pakistan to care
about the American presidential election cycle? A shattered economy at home and poor growth
prospects for the foreseeable future cannot be outdone by the eccentricities of a foreign president,
irrespective of the amount of the power they may wield. As fascinating as the meteoric rise of
Elizabeth Warren, the enduring fund-raising capacities of Bernie Sanders and the combative self-
impeachment of President Trump may appear to be, they pale in comparison to