In The News

The World's Most Utterly Failed State

October 10, 2008
Piracy is one of the oldest legacies of globalization; as goods are traded among increasingly connected peoples, others carve their place in the global economy by disrupting trade and stealing what they can on the high seas. Since the end of its "Golden Age" in the 1800s, piracy has taken on a largely nostalgic role in pop culture and travel attractions in the West, but remains a...

Pakistan on the Brink

Ahmed Rashid September 19, 2008
The US shotgun marriage with Pakistan, arranged after the 9/11 attacks in order to launch the US “war on terror,” has begun to fall apart, and in the process endangers the very state of Pakistan. The US detoured to Iraq and relied on Pakistan’s military ruler General Pervez Musharraf as an ally to manage the region. He’s gone and during the long period of US neglect, both Afghanistan, original...

Pakistan’s Dangerous Double Game

Ron Moreau September 16, 2008
After the 9/11 attacks, planned by Al Qaeda in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US linked up as allies in the “war on terror” declared by George Bush. The Taliban have long since scattered, many to the rugged Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, and regrouped in camps. The US alludes to an agreement, possibly made with former President Pervez Musharraf, that allows its troops to cross the...

Will Kashmir Protests and Terrorism Thwart India’s Global Ambitions?

Harsh V. Pant September 15, 2008
Before summer of 2008, India and Pakistan were gradually normalizing relations and edging toward agreement on territorial claims in Kashmir. But the longstanding dispute, in play since Pakistan separated from India, remains a live issue for politicians and extremists in India and abroad, to exploit and throw a spanner in the works for the country’s global ambition, suggests Harsh V. Pant,...

Russia and a New Democratic Realism

Francis Fukuyama September 12, 2008
The weakened Russia of the 1990s has bulked up into a formidable nation that makes the former satellites of the Soviet Union uneasy. In the meantime, the US allowed negotiation opportunities and moral credibility to slip away. The US invasion of Iraq and support of separation for Kosovo handed an excuse to others that might invade sovereign states for regime change or disgruntled provinces that...

China Cannot Back Russia in Georgia Crisis: Analysts

September 3, 2008
For international and domestic affairs, China firmly holds to the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China’s insistence that Tibet and Taiwan are part of China parallels Georgian insistence that South Ossetia and Abkhazia belong to Georgia. But the Chinese government has not stepped forward to rally behind Georgia and the West in criticizing Russia, reports the news...

How the Georgia Conflict Impacts US-Russian Relations

Thomas R. Pickering September 2, 2008
Two provinces hoping to break away from Georgia and Russia’s subsequent attack and occupation has raised concerns in the US about Russian motivations for expansion. For US-Russian relations, the conflict will distract from all other issues, including joint efforts to stem nuclear proliferation, cooperation on Iran and trade. As with most other issues, the US is divided on how to best handle the...