It may be a conceit to think that Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine will shape the contours of a coming wider global struggle between autocracy and democracy<\/p>\n
Flying from Islamabad to Colombo gives a bird\u2019s-eye view of the fallout from war over the subcontinent. The three nations under the route are all governed by nationalists who won office by trading in populism. Having gained power, such politicians tend to have a messianic faith in their capacity to effect sweeping change. This belief is being tested, perhaps to destruction, in south Asian<\/a> democracies with a combined population of 1.6 billion people.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s prime minister, Imran Khan \u2013 who was in Moscow as the tanks rolled into Ukraine \u2013 claimed last week that the US had \u201cthreatened<\/a>\u201d him and tried to instigate regime change. Mr Khan has been at loggerheads<\/a> with the west since Pakistan abstained in the UN resolution condemning Moscow\u2019s attack. Over the weekend the nation\u2019s army \u2013 long considered the power behind the throne \u2013 openly<\/a> sided with Washington. Mr Khan has refused to leave quietly. Instead of facing a no-confidence vote that he would have almost certainly lost, he precipitated a political crisis by dissolving<\/a> parliament. Pakistan\u2019s judges now have the casting vote on the prime minister\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n