Insider

Your all-access pass to FP

Pakistani Pashtun Leader: Nationalism Is a ‘Reaction Against the Racist Policies of the State’

Manzoor Pashteen is a rising political star willing to speak out on taboo subjects.

ODonnell-Lynne-foreign-policy-columnist
ODonnell-Lynne-foreign-policy-columnist
Lynne O’Donnell
By , a columnist at Foreign Policy and an Australian journalist and author.
Manzoor Pashteen, the Pakistani tribal leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, takes part in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Islamabad on April 6, 2018.
Manzoor Pashteen, the Pakistani tribal leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, takes part in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Islamabad on April 6, 2018.
Manzoor Pashteen, the Pakistani tribal leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, takes part in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Islamabad on April 6, 2018. AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

ISLAMABAD—Manzoor Pashteen has become one of the most popular figures in Pakistani politics that few outside the country have ever heard of. Yet enormous crowds attend rallies to hear him speak, and the traditional red-and-black Mazari hat he wears has become known as the “Pashteen hat.” People wear it to show their support for him.

Lynne O’Donnell is a columnist at Foreign Policy and an Australian journalist and author. She was the Afghanistan bureau chief for Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press between 2009 and 2017.

Join the Conversation

Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription.

Already a subscriber? .

View Comments

Join the Conversation

Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now.

Not your account?

View Comments

Join the Conversation

Please follow our comment guidelines, stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs.

You are commenting as .
Tag: Pakistan

Read More

A man reads a newspaper that hangs on a line with others.
A man reads a newspaper that hangs on a line with others.

Pakistan’s New Media Crackdown Threatens Press Freedom

The army and the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency want to eradicate any criticism.

Report
Lynne O’Donnell
Residents of Quetta hold candle lights beside photographs of security personnel who were killed in militant attacks on security camps in the Nushki and Panjgur areas of Balochistan province.
Residents of Quetta hold candle lights beside photographs of security personnel who were killed in militant attacks on security camps in the Nushki and Panjgur areas of Balochistan province.

Pakistan Faces ‘Peace of Wolves’ as Regional Tensions Rise

After 20 years of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan, Pakistan finds the tables are turning as militancy comes home.

Dispatch
Lynne O’Donnell
Two people stand and sit in a boat in an above shot looking down at a string of colorful rowboats floating along the bank of the Ravi River, a tributary of the Indus in Lahore, Pakistan.
Two people stand and sit in a boat in an above shot looking down at a string of colorful rowboats floating along the bank of the Ravi River, a tributary of the Indus in Lahore, Pakistan.

Can India and Pakistan’s Historic Water Pact Endure?

The Indus Waters Treaty was created to avoid conflict. To confront the climate crisis, it must evolve.

Analysis
Betsy Joles

latest

‘We Don’t Want to Lose Our Second Motherland’

All the Palestinians Got From Oslo Was KFC

The End of Nagorno-Karabakh

What in the World?

What Does Nagorno-Karabakh’s Fall Mean for Great Power Influence?
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
  2. 2
    All the Palestinians Got From Oslo Was KFC

More from Foreign Policy

A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.
A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.

No, the World Is Not Multipolar

The idea of emerging power centers is popular but wrong—and could lead to serious policy mistakes.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.
The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.

America Can’t Stop China’s Rise

And it should stop trying.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.

The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky

The ethical calculations are less clear than you might think.

Trending

  1. The End of Nagorno-Karabakh
    World Brief
    Alexandra Sharp

  2. All the Palestinians Got From Oslo Was KFC
    Essay
    Dalia Hatuqa

  3. The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
    Argument
    Stephen M. Walt

  4. Iran Is Exploiting Divisions and U.S. Inaction in Iraqi Kurdistan
    Argument
    Ranj Alaaldin

  5. The U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose a Soft-Power Race With China
    Analysis
    Raja Krishnamoorthi