The US and Israeli 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 global power centers.
The unipolar world dominated by the United States after the end of the Cold War is progressively giving way to a new multipolar reality in which China is emerging as the main economic and technological force, while regional powers increasingly assert their strategic autonomy. This transition represents one of the most significant geopolitical transformations of the modern era and, for countries like Pakistan, presents 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 becoming marginalized.
Pakistan stands at a historical crossroads. It has 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. However, 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 civilizational.
We need a profound restructuring of governance in which genuine democracy is strengthened by empowering citizens at the grassroots level while ensuring that national policy is guided by competence, experience and long-term strategic thinking rather than short-term populism. Real power must flow 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.
However, the central issue is not simply 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. Ministries responsible for education, science and technology, finance, industry, energy, digital transformation, agriculture and health 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 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 capacity. Pakistan’s education system remains seriously flawed: millions of children are out of school, poor teacher training, outdated curricula, rote memorization, 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 at every layer of the education system. Technical and vocational education must be elevated to the status of national priority. Hundreds of advanced technical institutes inspired by the Fachhochschule system of Austria and Germany, closely linked to industry and focusing on practical industrial training, should be established throughout the country. One such model university has already been established under my leadership: the Pakistan-Austria Fachhochschule in Haripur, Hazara.
In this transformation, China can play a historic and fundamental role. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor should evolve far beyond roads, ports and energy projects and become a vast platform for technology transfer, industrial cooperation and export-oriented industrialization. A particularly transformative QUAD model, as I proposed above, would involve deep integration between Chinese industry, Pakistani industry, Chinese universities and Pakistani universities in specialized product-oriented partnerships designed to manufacture high-value products for global markets.
Within this framework, Pakistani universities would work directly together with industry to develop technologies, improve manufacturing processes and train highly qualified engineers and scientists. Chinese technological expertise combined with Pakistan’s strategic location and young workforce could create powerful export-oriented industrial ecosystems capable of transforming the country’s economy within a generation.
Pakistan must therefore urgently and decisively move away from dependence on low-value exports and imported consumerism towards a high-tech, value-added and 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 deeply integrated AI 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 into its industries, educational institutions, governance systems and research infrastructure. Several years ago, I submitted a Rs 40 billion project to the IT Ministry to establish specialized AI centers in different fields across Pakistan, and its feasibility study was successfully concluded. It must now be approved and implemented throughout the country as a matter of urgency.
Now it is necessary to redefine national security itself. In the modern world, technological capacity increasingly determines geopolitical influence. Cybersecurity, semiconductor technologies, artificial intelligence-based defense systems, drones, biotechnology, satellite systems and advanced manufacturing have become central pillars of strategic power. Therefore, Pakistan’s scientific and engineering capabilities must become integral components of national security planning. The same strategic approach that enabled Pakistan to develop nuclear and missile capabilities must now be directed towards civilian scientific and industrial transformation.
Pakistan has the human talent, strategic partnerships and geographic position to become one of the leading economies in the Muslim world and a major technology hub in Asia. But the window of opportunity will not remain open indefinitely. History moves 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 true wealth of nations no longer lies primarily in natural resources, military equipment, or geographic size. It lies in human capital, scientific knowledge, technological competence, innovation ecosystems and the ability to manufacture sophisticated, high-value products for global markets. Countries like South Korea, Singapore and China were transformed because they understood that education, science, engineering, technological advancement and quality innovation are the true engines of national power.
Pakistan must now adopt the same path with absolute clarity and determination, as I have repeatedly stressed in my articles over the last two decades. The 28th Amendment should primarily aim to achieve 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 contacted at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of PakGazette.tv.
Originally published in The News
