South Asia

Pakistan’s Strategic Moment

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

The massive bombing of the Islamabad Marriott has deeply shaken Pakistan, offering the newly elected civilian leadership a strategic opportunity to aggressively pursue the Islamic militants that threaten the country’s viability and territorial integrity. After alienating Pakistanis with counterproductive military action against militants on the Pakistani side of the Durand line, Washington must now play […]

Afghanistan Just Got a Bit Tougher

By James Easaw

Bob Woodward’s recent Washington Post series making public the discord between the Bush White House and the heads of the American military services will provide a ready excuse for European heads of state, already facing increasing skepticism at home, to absolve themselves of responsibility for failure in that vital region.

Pakistan’s Perfect Storm

By Shuja Nawaz

Within a matter of days, events on the Afghan border seem to be creating a perfect storm of mistrust and conflict between the United States and Pakistan

Afghanistan Spins Out of Control, U.S. Fiddles

By Frederick Kempe

NATO is winning most battles in Afghanistan, but the international community is losing the war.That has consequences far beyond Afghanistan if the U.S., Europe and its friends don’t change course fast. The dangers include deepening of regional instability that engulfs nuclear- tipped Pakistan, spreading global terrorism and the declining relevance of the North Atlantic Treaty […]

Saving Afghanistan: An Appeal and Plan for Urgent Action

Make no mistake, the international community is not winning in Afghanistan. Unless this reality is understood and action is taken promptly, the future of Afghanistan is bleak, with regional and global impact. The purpose of this paper is to sound the alarm and to propose specific actions that must be taken now if Afghanistan is […]

Bhutto Killing Breeds a Failing Nuclear State

By Frederick Kempe

Two months ago I suggested that, amid the Bush administration’s focus on Iraq’s present dangers and Iran’s future perils, Pakistan was most likely to produce a so- called black-swan event.