Islamabad, Pakistan —
Islamabad is a city on hold, gripped by the limelight of its own success, host to something potentially historic — and yet at the same locked in by road closures.
Five-star hotels in the Pakistani capital are empty awaiting diplomatic delegations for a next round of negotiations between Iran and the US. Bougie restaurants have shuttered their kitchens, their usual well-heeled clientele unable to make it past army and police check posts strategically sprinkled at almost every major city intersection.
All too often, Islamabad has hit headlines for all the wrong reasons. It was the target of a militant Islamist suicide bombing as recently February, with more than 60…