Taliban Update – The New York Times follows up on findings in a NATO report, “State of the Taliban 2012” – based on 27,000 interrogations of 4,000 insurgents in Afghanistan – showing resilient fighters “convinced that they …
Pakistan
TIME Exclusive: Q&A with Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar
Since she was appointed as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister in July of 2011, Hina Rabbani Khar has had to deal with the fallout from the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, a deterioration in relations with …
“The once all-powerful military is increasingly insecure.”
Prime Minister’s Supreme Court Appearance Pushes Pakistan Back from the Brink
Of late, Pakistani politicians could best be described as roulette players, betting the bank on singular gambits designed to win big political concessions, or at least the momentary attention of a rabid electronic media. But on …
Not Just a Pakistani Problem: India’s Army Chief Challenges His Own Government
Side by side on the front page of today’s Hindu newspaper are two stories about conflict between the Army and the civilian government in two South Asian countries. One of them, of course, is Pakistan, a country whose political …
Can Pakistan’s Liberals Be Saved?
This week marked a year after the assassination of Pakistani politician and Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. On Jan. 4, 2011, a guard tasked to protect Taseer gunned him down, angered by the much-respected politico’s defense of …
The Bonn Conference: Can Afghanistan Be Saved Without Pakistan On Board?
It’s rarely a good sign these days when a summit gets referenced by the city that hosts it: Kyoto is now synonymous with the international community’s failures dealing with climate change; Oslo has become another watchword for …
Fareed Zakaria: How the U.S. Should Approach Pakistan
The discord underlying Washington’s troubled relationship with Islamabad reared its head again this week following the NATO bombing of Pakistani positions along the Afghan border. 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a strike for which NATO has expressed regret, but reports suggest NATO and Afghan forces had taken fire from Pakistani …
Five Faulty Foreign Policies from the GOP National Security Debate
As all surely expected from a field of candidates with little genuine foreign policy experience, a lot of silly things were said during last night’s GOP national security debate. Rick Santorum called Africa a “country.” Michelle Bachmann, who, as a sitting member of the House Intelligence Committee should know better, claimed …
Satirical Video Attacks the Military-Religious Complex in Pakistan
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The video above, posted by a band of 20-something Pakistani musicians in the country’s cultural capital Lahore, has become a viral hit in South Asia. “Aalu Anday” or “Potato and Eggs” starts innocently enough but soon launches into a tongue-in-cheek attack on the …
Lessons for the Arab Spring from a Tiny Island Nation
With Tunisian elections just completed, Egypt’s parliamentary elections coming up and Libya veering into a dark new period, observers of the Arab Spring are wondering what will become of these revolutions once the euphoria subsides and the struggle over democracy grows apace.
There is one corner of South Asia where these questions …
Will New Delhi Allow its Troops in Kashmir to Face Prosecution?
In August 2010, against the backdrop of last year’s fierce stone-pelting protests in Kashmir, I asked Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, about one of the protestors’ demands: the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a controversial law that gives Indian troops broad protection …
Haunted by the Ghosts of Afghanistan, Libya Asks NATO to Stay On
The request by Libya’s Transitional National Council for NATO to continue its military mission in the country despite the overthrow and slaying of Col. Muammar Gaddafi is a reminder that Libya may have some things in common with Afghanistan circa January 2002. There, the Taliban had been routed and driven out of power by a …