In The News

Waziristan or Bust: Pakistan Army in Fight for the State’s Survival

Ahmed Rashid October 19, 2009
Pakistan’s slow descent into chaos that author and journalist Ahmed Rashid has chronicled over the past years has reached a critical juncture with this week’s army offensive against the Pakistani Taliban base in South Waziristan. The latest offensive coming on the wake of audacious terrorist attacks is only a tip of the iceberg. As Rashid deftly shows in this essay, the complexity of the...

Pakistan's Partial War on Terror

C. Christine Fair October 15, 2009
Pakistan is now reaping the bitter harvest of what it had sown by cultivating Islamic militants. Islamabad believed that it could use militants and terrorists to keep India in check and as a hedge for maintaining influence in Afghanistan should the US withdraw. But the recent uptick in suicide bombings and attacks across Pakistan along with evidence of how the Pakistani and Afghani Taliban and Al...

Global Crime Networks Cooperate Better Than Police

October 13, 2009
Despite being one of the world's biggest international organizations, Interpol has struggled to rein in global crime syndicates. While police forces and intelligence organizations –both locally and internationally – hesitate to share information, fearing another's potential for corruption, criminals have capitalized on tech-savvy forms of global communication to build links across...

Afghan Peace Needs a Map

Li Qinggong October 8, 2009
The war in Afghanistan has become mired by a lack of strategic vision on the part of the Western alliance amid turmoil both in the country and abroad. In an article published in China’s official China Daily, Li Qinggong, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Council for National Security Policy Studies notes, the war is a “source of ceaseless turbulence” that has not brought peace, security, or...

The Other Ticking Clock in Iran

Christian Caryl October 7, 2009
While Iran's nuclear program draws headlines around the world, a less widely known arms acquisition by Iran has been underway that would produce its own global ramifications. Since 2005, Iran has been in negotiations with Russia to acquire an advanced missile-defense system capable of striking incoming ballistic missiles and even stealth aircrafts. But Russia has stalled delivery to Tehran...

Nuclear Challenge from Pakistan and Iran – Part II

Leonard S. Spector October 7, 2009
Iran’s surprise revelation of a nuclear facility near the city of Qom was not such a surprise given that Western intelligence agents already knew of the site. The consensus analysis was that Iran revealed the existence of the site precisely because it had been discovered. But Leonard S. Spector, Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, believes the revelation was...

Nuclear Challenge from Pakistan and Iran – Part I

Matthew Rojansky, Daniel Cassman October 5, 2009
This past summer, advances of the Pakistani Taliban toward the capital Islamabad caused wide concern in the media. Though the Pakistani army vigorously pushed back, reclaiming Swat Valley and an American drone killed the top Taliban leader in Pakistan, the threat to the regime remains, according to Executive Director of the Partnership for a Secure America Matt Rojansky and his research assistant...