Afghanistan: a “deteriorating” situation
The Post reported last week that American intelligence analysts are worried about a “looming strategic failure.” Intelligence analysts acknowledge the battlefield victories, but they highlight the...
View ArticlePakistan: the variables
Last month The Atlantic examined Pakistan’s direction in light of ongoing political turmoil. Author Joshua Hammer mentions the “nightmare scenario”–which Pakistan seems to inspire regularly: an Islamic...
View ArticlePakistan: stability after Bhutto
Gareth Evans of the International Crisis Group put summarized the impact of Bhutto’s assassination succinctly: “Prospects for democracy and stability in Pakistan are much dimmer without her.” As for...
View ArticlePakistan: another threat to stability
Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is straining ties between Pakistan’s ethnic groups, the Washington Post reports. Comprised of four ethnicity-based provinces, Pakistan’s stability was already threatened...
View ArticleReminders from Mumbai
The terrorist atrocities in Mumbai this week serve as another reminder of two fundamental issues for India: India’s future will always be imperiled as long as relations with Pakistan remain on a...
View ArticleSocial Revolution in Pakistan?
The New York Times reported this week on another potential driver of instability in Pakistan: the Taliban are harnessing the country’s severe social inequities to advance their Islamist cause. Given...
View ArticleEyeing Pakistan’s Nukes
Al Qaeda has been unusually clear about its interest in nuclear weapons, and in particular those held by Pakistan, recently. On June 21st, al Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan said this about Pakistan’s...
View Article“Armageddon in Islamabad”
A Sunni extremist takeover of Pakistan would be an immense threat to the US and hard to counter, Bruce Reidel writes in The National Interest. Such a takeover would create the greatest threat the...
View ArticlePakistan: Extremists against Extremism?
Polling by the Pew Global Attitudes Project show that Pakistani attitudes are shifting. They are far more worried about extremism, and feel less positive about al Qaeda and the Taliban. Seventy percent...
View ArticleAfghanistan: Does It Matter?
President Obama’s drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan is a step toward addressing a large gap between US effort in Afghanistan — we are now spending a trillion dollars a decade in immediate costs...
View Article
