In The News

Groomed for Suicide: How Taliban Recruits Children for Mass Murder

Jon Boone May 23, 2011
Severe poverty, shortcomings in education, restraints on women appearing in public, religious extremism and ongoing war all combine to limit opportunities for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan – and all pose new dangers. Struggling to recruit adults as suicide bombers, the Taliban increasingly turn to desperate teenagers and younger children, reports Jon Boone for the Guardian. Taliban...

Post-bin Laden: Pakistan’s Hour of Choice

Sadanand Dhume May 17, 2011
The Pakistani military at times has condoned extremism, specifically to needle India or squeeze US military aid. But terrorism is not a precision tool. Pakistan’s reputation as a trustworthy partner could be at an all-time low after the US discovered and killed bin Laden hiding near a Pakistani military academy. The international community is wary of Pakistan’s many links to global terrorism....

Nakba Protests Bring Arab Spring to Israel's Doorstep

Ariel Zirulnick May 17, 2011
Israel serves as a flashpoint for Arab anger, with tens of thousands of Palestinians and supporters gathering along its borders in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt to protest the nation’s 63rd anniversary. Lebanese and Israeli security forces used firepower and tear gas to control crowds, with 15 deaths reported. Protests against Israel are convenient for Arab leaders struggling with democracy movements...

Pakistan’s Not So Sleight of Hand

Sumit Ganguly May 4, 2011
Osama bin Laden, killed by US Navy SEALs, was not so hidden in Pakistan. The fugitive’s conspicuously large home in Abbottabad, a resort town that’s also home to many retired Pakistani military, is an embarrassment for the US ally, recipient of more than billions in US security-related aid since 2002. Pakistan, a nuclear power, controls a key supply route into Afghanistan, but the security...

In Arab World, Bin Laden’s Confused Legacy

Anthony Shadid, David D. Kirkpatrick May 2, 2011
There’s a vast disconnect between the Middle East’s uprisings – a quest for democracy – and rigid religious controls promised by Al Qaeda. An operation, authorized by US President Barack Obama, tracked Osama bin Laden to a compound in Pakistan, killing the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. For youthful Arab populations, the events that put bin Laden on a global most-...

How to Keep the Nuclear Genie in the Bottle

Richard Weitz January 19, 2011
Following a series of agreements with the US, Russia and former Soviet states, the global stockpile of nuclear warheads has dropped from 70,000 to 22,000 since 1987, reports the World Nuclear Association. The Association says, “Highly-enriched uranium in US and Russian weapons and other military stockpiles amounts to about 2000 tonnes, equivalent to about twelve times annual world mine production...

Imperial by Design

John Mearsheimer January 18, 2011
US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq has hampered its efforts to contain nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran or resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, increasing pessimism about US foreign-policy goals or capabilities. The US was wrong to pursue a grand strategy asserting global dominance, argues scholar John Mearsheimer for the National Interest. Policymakers miscalculated, by...