The Gist

The Real Deep State

Pakistan’s “deep state” helped Imran Khan claim electoral victory. Can he confront it, for the country’s sake?

A supporter of Pakistan’s Imran Khan stands next to a poster with a picture of the cricketer turned politician in Islamabad on Thursday.

Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

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On The Gist, the glee of seeing Facebook stock take a dive.

Imran Khan is poised to lead Pakistan as its next prime minister. The former cricket star campaigned on a promise of transparency, but his focus “is only on anti-corruption when it comes to finding ways to bring down political opponents,” says Alyssa Ayres, formerly of Obama’s State Department for South Asia. Ayres is the author of Our Time Has Come: How India Is Making Its Place in the World.

In the Spiel, how autocrats are starting to use the excuse of fake news.

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Podcast production by Pierre Bienaimé and Daniel Schroeder.