In The News

Afghan Strikes by Taliban Get Pakistan Help, US Aides Say

Mark Mazzetti March 27, 2009
Trusting an alliance with divided allegiances is difficult, if not impossible. Pakistan is a US ally in the fight to control Afghanistan, but evidence has emerged that Pakistani military intelligence operatives provide support for Taliban attacks on foreign troops. “The support consists of money, military supplies and strategic planning guidance to Taliban commanders who are gearing up to...

The Downside of Letting Robots Do the Bombing

Mark Mazzetti March 26, 2009
Washington is mulling the long-term implications of using drone robots – missiles attached to remote-controlled planes – to kill enemies in combat, reports Mark Mazzetti for the New York Times. The drones attack Al Qaeda leaders hiding in remote regions of Pakistan without endangering US troops, Mazzetti writes, yet are “the antithesis of the grinding, patient and high-risk counterinsurgency...

Democracy May be the Best Ally Against Pakistan's Extremists

Paula R. Newberg March 20, 2009
Pakistan confronts many challenges, on governance, extremism and a war in neighboring Afghanistan that encroaches its own borders. An international focus on eliminating terrorism led to agreements with Pakistani presidents that often bypassed courts and parliament. And that may be an important reason why the Pakistani people pressed for the release of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar...

Deals With Taliban Could Be Dangerous

Peter Bergen March 12, 2009
Military intervention alone cannot resolve the unrest and violence that stem from illiteracy, inequality and poverty. With that in mind, the US considers approaching more moderate members of the Taliban to join on a political solution for troubled Afghanistan. Reporting for CNN, analyst Peter Berg offers nine reasons why such negotiations might not work, including a weak central government in...

The Gordian Knot of Gaza

Tamara Cofman Wittes March 6, 2009
The internal politics for authoritarian Arab nations allied with the US complicate any resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and empower nations that resist Western influence, like Iran. The lack of power and miserable existence for Palestinians who seek their own state resonates with millions of Arabs, especially those who live in corrupt regimes allied with the US, Israel's major...

A Dangerous Void in Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid March 4, 2009
Many analysts had hoped that the democratic elections in 2008 and the resulting civilian government might stabilize Pakistan. Instead, a dithering and weak government which tried to buy off Islamic militants by a controversial ceasefire now face a breakdown of the ceasefire, in the midst of new terrorist attacks, political protests and economic meltdown. The result is that NATO and the US,...

End Game in Sri Lanka

Harsh V. Pant February 23, 2009
Civil war has divided Sri Lanka since 1983, as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fought for a separate state for Tamils, which comprise 18 percent of the country’s population. But global and regional events that conspired against the rebel cause can’t be counted on during the post-conflict phase, explains Harsh V. Pant, a lecturer in defense studies at King’s College in London. Several factors...