All of us live simultaneously in our own regions and countries and in the world at large. Peoples and cultures are increasingly hybrid. We are all influenced by the same tides of political, economic, social and technological change. We are all connected, wired and interconnected. Much of this is not new. Human beings have interacted across the globe for centuries. But today's globalization is different. It is happening more rapidly, and it is being driven by new dynamics marked by what we call diplomacy, inter-state strategic power game, oil and energy politics, economic warfare, nuclear security order and war. Somehow, we tend to see the world through stereotypes, i.e., the pictures-in-our-heads that in essence are "conditioned responses" to what is happening across the globe. Our worldview is often circumscribed not only by our habits or perceptions but also by our "loyalties" that we develop under compulsions of history, geography, or political and socio-economic reasons. These loyalties are invariably a source of "prejudice and error" because they are embedded in our minds to make us see things the way we like to see them. To see the world truly, one must see it steadily and see it wholly. Understanding the world affairs is an unending process. Pursuing truth is also a continuing adventure that must go on. And truth is to be found in the course of journey, not at the end of it. I am privileged to be part of the Lahore Council for World Affairs (LCWA) established by a group of Pakistan's former ambassadors residing in Lahore as a non-political, non-partisan and non-profit forum to be our companion in this unending journey for realistic comprehension of world affairs through dispassionate debate and discourse on issues of national, regional and global importance in the context of their relevance to Pakistan.

Shamshad Ahmad Khan

Former Foreign Secretary