Disruption at Pakistan's Doorstep

GALLERY HAWAII ASKS ITSELF, HOW LEGEND IS WHAT SHOULD ‘MINARI’ FINDING TOURISM BECOME? STRIKES

INTERNATIONAL EDITION | SATURDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 17-18, 2021 Defeating New leader the military Disruption at Pakistan’s doorstep gives Italy in Myanmar leverage

Zin Mar Aung in Europe

ROME OPINION

The people of Myanmar have been With others sidelined, fighting for the life of our nation since the military, or Tatmadaw, seized power Draghi is ready to fill on Feb. 1. We have been protesting continental power void peacefully, risking our lives to protect neighborhoods, cities and towns — BY JASON HOROWITZ fighting not for any one political party, ethnic group or leader, but for freedom The European Union was stumbling and a genuine federal democracy. through a Covid-19 vaccine rollout This is why those of us who were duly marred by shortages and logistical elected to office by the people of Myan- bungling in late March when Mario mar, and who continue to act for their Draghi took matters into his own hands. interests, are now asking for direct help. The new Italian prime minister seized a Military and shipment of vaccines destined for Aus- security personnel tralia — and along with them, an oppor- Elected legis- have killed more tunity to show that a new, aggressive lators deposed than 700 people, and potent force had arrived in the Eu- in the coup including dozens of ropean bloc. have a plan children, and ar- The move shook up a Brussels leader- for building rested, charged or ship that had seemed to be asleep at the a new federal sentenced more switch. Within weeks, in part as a result democratic than 3,050. At first, of his pressing and engineering behind union. We they responded to the scenes, the European Union had au- the protests with thorized even broader and harsher need help. wanton shootings, measures to curb exports of Covid-19 arrests, intimidation vaccines badly needed in Europe. The and property TYLER HICKS/THE NEW YORK TIMES Australia experiment, as officials in seizures. In recent days, they have Pakistani soldiers at the border with Afghanistan in 2009. Pakistan’s military has played a dangerous game of supporting militants abroad while containing extremists at home. Brussels and Italy call it, was a turning ramped up the violence, deploying point, both for Europe and Italy. automatic weapons and heavy explo- It also demonstrated that Mr. Draghi, sives. Last Friday, more than 80 people NEWS ANALYSIS working to block the influence of its renowned as the former European Cen- were killed in the city of Bago alone. archenemy, India. tral Bank president who helped save the The Tatmadaw is occupying hospitals But the Pakistani military’s shelter- euro, was prepared to lead Europe from and schools, and threatening to seize ing of the Taliban insurgency over the behind, where Italy has found itself for banks. It is bombing rural areas, forcing Chaos from U.S. pullout past two decades — doggedly pursuing years, trailing its European partners in civilians into caves and shelters or in Afghanistan could stir a narrowly defined geopolitical victory economic dynamism and much-needed across the border with Thailand. next door — risks another wave of dis- reforms. This is the behavior not of a legitimate neighboring extremists ruption at home. Pakistan is a fragile, In his short time in office — he took government but of an army waging war nuclear-armed state already reeling power in February after a political crisis on its own citizens. BY MUJIB MASHAL, SALMAN MASOOD from a crashed economy, waves of social — Mr. Draghi has quickly leveraged his In response, people from all genera- AND ZIA UR-REHMAN unrest, agitation by oppressed minor- European relationships, his skill in navi- tions, ethnicities, religions, genders, ities and a percolating Islamic militancy gating E.U. institutions and his nearly regions and economic groups have Near the peak of the American war in of its own that it is struggling to contain. messianic reputation to make Italy a united, continually adapting their ways Afghanistan, a former chief of neighbor- If Afghanistan descends into chaos, player on the continent in a way it has of opposing the mounting repression. ing Pakistan’s military intelligence — an Pakistanis are bound to feel the burden not been in decades. After the security forces ratcheted up institution allied both to the U.S. military again, just as they did after Afghanistan With his friend Chancellor Angela the violence, demonstrators momen- and to its Taliban adversaries — ap- disintegrated in the 1990s following the Merkel of Germany leaving office in tarily emptied the streets as a form of peared on a talk show called “Joke Soviet withdrawal. Millions of Afghan September, President Emmanuel Ma- silent protest or spilled red paint onto Night” in 2014. He put a bold prediction refugees crossed the porous border to cron of France facing tough elections roads to denounce the bloodletting. The on the record. seek relative safety in Pakistan’s cities next year and the European Commis- Tatmadaw cuts off internet access in “When history is written,” declared PARWIZ/REUTERS and towns. sion president, Ursula von der Leyen, much of the country? People start dis- Gen. Hamid Gul, who led the feared spy Afghan men waiting for tokens to apply for Pakistani visas in October. In the And more: A Taliban return to power, struggling to demonstrate competence, tributing old-school printed tracts by service known as the I.S.I. during the 1990s, after the Soviet withdrawal, millions of Afghans sought safety in Pakistan. either through a civil war or through a Mr. Draghi is poised to fill a leadership hand. last stretch of the Cold War in the 1980s, peace deal that gives them a share of vacuum in Europe. This drive and resourcefulness point “it will be stated that the I.S.I. defeated power, would embolden the extremist Increasingly, he seems to be speaking to a simple truth — a truth that only the the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with the In President Biden’s decision to with- lished strong influence through a movements in Pakistan that share the for all of Europe. ZIN MAR AUNG, PAGE 12 help of America.” draw all American forces from Afghani- friendly Taliban regime before the U.S. same source of ideological mentorship “The difference is that everybody, “Then there will be another sen- stan by September, Pakistan’s powerful invaded in 2001. in the thousands of religious seminaries when Mario Draghi speaks, knows that The New York Times publishes opinion tence,” General Gul added after a brief military establishment finally gets its A return of the Taliban to some form of spread across Pakistan. Those groups he is not just pushing, boosting the Ital- from a wide range of perspectives in pause, delivering his punchline to loud wish after decades of bloody intrigue: power would dial the clock back to a have shown no hesitation in antagoniz- ian interest” but rather the European hopes of promoting constructive debate applause. “The I.S.I., with the help of the exit of a disruptive superpower from time when Pakistan’s military played ing the country’s government. Union’s, Italy’s minister for European about consequential questions. America, defeated America.” a backyard where the I.S.I. had estab- gatekeeper to Afghanistan, perpetually PAKISTAN, PAGE 6 ITALY, PAGE 5

Movies found diversity, but more is needed

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK meeting at that same wedding — that I found seductive. And given the rinse- and-repeating we’ve been doing all these months: predictive. It was a Oscar nominees reflect Metaphor of Its Moment. The director Max Barbakow and the industry progress. Still, screenwriter Andy Siara understood opportunities were missed. how to merge a funny leading-man (Andy Samberg) with an uninhibited BY WESLEY MORRIS character actor (Cristin Milioti) and broad comedy with the existential There was a moment last summer, dread of science fiction. It was a dumb right around the time that “Palm movie. It was shockingly emotional. Springs” arrived on Hulu, where if you Alas, it was also probably too bright, were thinking about whether the Acad- too absurd and released too early in emy Awards would happen in 2021, you the year for any voter’s serious consid- might have wondered if this rinse-and- eration. By March 15, nomination day, repeat romantic comedy might be the it had indeed gone unconsidered. sort of thing that could wind up a best I had another wishful moment in the Wordplay, every day. picture nominee. There are 9,000 eligi- fall, after I saw the “The Forty-Year- ble Oscar voters, none of whom is me, Old Version,” a Netflix comedy that The New York Times Crossword is the upside to downtime. but “Palm Springs” had a seriousness Radha Blank wrote and directed. This It’s the smart way to fill the breaks in your day. Start playing. EMILIO PARRA DOIZTUA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES of purpose and an undercurrent of rage one starred Blank as a washed-up nytimes.com/solvenow Sacred spaces Intimate flamenco clubs in Spain, known as tablaos, have — two people meet at a wedding, then, Harlem playwright whose midlife mostly remained shuttered, even as pandemic restrictions ease. PAGE 5 thanks to a time-space wormhole, keep MOVIES, PAGE 2

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