In The News

Obama’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Quandary – Part I

Ashley J. Tellis April 13, 2009
During the long election campaign, then candidate Barack Obama criticized President George W. Bush for dropping the ball in Afghanistan to devote military resources to Iraq. Now President Obama is trying to find the right course in Afghanistan. In the first of this two part YaleGlobal series, Carnegie Endowment scholar Ashley J. Tellis writes that President Obama’s decision to continue the fight...

Somalia’s Piracy Offers Lessons in Global Governance

Christopher Jasparro April 6, 2009
Contrary to common perception, the swift and coordinated international response to piracy off Somalia’s coast has been less of a success than reports make it out to be. In fact, it masks deeper problems of unfairness in international economic order and local governance. Somalia’s pirates are a motley crew: some are fishermen defending their turf, while others are guns for hire. And the...

Pakistan: The Militant Jihadi Challenge

March 30, 2009
As the US and NATO prepare to step up military action to blunt extremism along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the International Crisis Group presents analysis on the extent of the challenge: “that the Pakistani Taliban is an outgrowth of radical Sunni networks in the country’s political heartland is too often neglected.” Extremist networks provide weapons, recruits and financing for attacks on...

India in a Changing World

Sanjaya Baru March 30, 2009
Foreign policy has typically been a side issue in Indian politics owing to more exigent domestic issues. However, as former aide to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sanjaya Baru notes, by attending to foreign policy, New Delhi can likely achieve its internal goal of modernization and prosperity. But there are two important considerations: U.S-China relations and regional balance. Should the current...

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...

Hillary Clinton Admits US Role in Mexico Drug Wars

Jo Tuckman March 27, 2009
Mexico is a source as well as major transshipment point for most of the illegal drugs moving into the US – a trade route marked with thousands of cases of torture, murder and ruined lives. Yet American teenagers and college students do not connect their casual use of marijuana and cocaine at lively, secure campus parties with the brutal violence on display throughout Mexico. During a visit to...

China Rises Again – Part II

Glenn D. Tiffert March 27, 2009
The international community recognizes China's rising power and is hopeful that China would exercise this power with responsibility. History demonstrates that those in power do set new rules, and accommodating this new authority is always a source of tension. In the second article of a two-part series, researcher Glenn Tiffert notes that the Chinese Navy's mode of operation on the open...