RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Daniel L. Byman, February 03, 2010, The Daily Beast
In recent Hill testimony, directors of U.S. intelligence agencies stated a new terrorist attack against the United States is possible in the next six months. Although groups like al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula are rightly claiming the attention of U.S. national security officials, Dan Byman argues that Pakistan remains the locus of terrorist activity and that any solutions have to begin there. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Riedel and Aysha Chowdhry, February 01, 2010, The National Interest
After the reported death of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud by a CIA drone attack, Bruce Riedel and Aysha Chowdry explain that while this may seem to be a positive development in the fight against the Taliban forces, Mehsud’s death is unlikely to have a significant effect on the Taliban’s established, wide-reaching terror network in Pakistan. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Riedel and Aysha Chowdhry, January 27, 2010, The Daily Beast
In recent months, terrorist plots at home and abroad have heightened international alarm regarding global terrorist networks. While the attempted Northwest Airlines Christmas bombing and the mass shooting at Fort Hood remain high on the U.S.’s radar, Bruce Riedel and Aysha Chowdhry argue that a foiled plot by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba also deserves significant attention, both from the United States and the global community. Read More
VIDEO
Bruce Riedel, January 12, 2010
While the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan are still dire, Bruce Riedel says that President Obama made the right decision to focus on the region as the epicenter of the struggle against al Qaeda. His colleague Vanda Felbab-Brown agrees, giving the president a B overall in The Status Report, but says that the president made the decision too late in 2009.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Riedel and Pavneet Singh, January 12, 2010, The Brookings Institution
In Pakistan widespread economic and political turmoil, a growing insurgency and increasingly anti-American sentiments present a challenge for U.S. policymakers. According to Bruce Riedel and Pavneet Singh, a historically positive relationship between Pakistan and China could be the solution. The authors suggest ways in which the United States, China and Pakistan can work together to sustain a stable Pakistan and achieve security goals throughout South Asia. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Vanda Felbab-Brown, January 12, 2010, The Brookings Institution
In this installment of the Status Report, a series of policy assessments of the Obama administration’s first year, Vanda Felbab-Brown gives the Obama administration a B for its leadership in confronting the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She applauds the president for his commitment of more troops to the Afghan war, while lamenting lost opportunities. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, January 07, 2010
2:30 PM to 3:30 PM
Washington, DC
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain at the forefront of President Obama’s foreign policy agenda, as questions persist about the success of U.S. policies in the region. Brookings hosted Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, for a conversation on the Obama administration’s way forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Vanda Felbab-Brown, January 07, 2010, The National Bureau of Asian Research
In an essay on the nexus between the narcotics economy and violent conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Vanda Felbab-Brown explores the factors supporting opium production in those countries. Felbab-Brown also offers options for successful counter-narcotics policies and for building an alternative legal economy throughout the struggling region. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon, January 04, 2010, The Washington Times
Writing about the year ahead in foreign policy, Michael O’Hanlon identifies four important policy challenges facing the Obama Administration that will reach crucial milestones in 2010 – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and nuclear nonproliferation. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ian Livingston, Heather Messera and Michael E. O'Hanlon, January 03, 2010, The New York Times
Ian Livingston, Heather Messera and Michael O'Hanlon examine leading metrics from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to assess how well the counterinsurgency and stabilization operations are faring in these three major arenas of U.S. military involvement. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon, January 01, 2010, Politico
Despite criticism from political opponents - including former Vice President Dick Cheney - and a recent rise in terrorist activity directed at American citizens, Michael O'Hanlon writes that President Obama has had a solid first year with regard to foreign policy matters, highlighted by sound policy decisions in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon, December 27, 2009, Los Angeles Times
In the past year, the United States has fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and spearheaded counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts in both countries and in Pakistan. Michael O'Hanlon writes that progress has been made in all three arenas, expressing guarded optimism for all three missions in the coming year. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Riedel, December 15, 2009, The Daily Beast
According to Bruce Riedel, the recent arrest and trial of David Headley - a Pakistani American who was allegedly involved in a terrorist attack in Mumbai, India last year - could have grave implications in the global fight against terrorism. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Stephen P. Cohen, December 11, 2009, The Brookings Institution
In a December 11 address to a visiting team from the U.S. Marine Corps War College, Stephen Cohen examined the future of South Asia in the larger context of violent Islamic extremism. Cohen outlined a range of policies that America might consider in dealing with Pakistan – a central player in the Afghan war – and in Pakistan's longstanding conflict with neighboring India. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Stephen P. Cohen, December 10, 2009, Routledge
As Pakistan undergoes a prolonged internal crisis, Stephen Cohen writes that many analysts both in United States and in other countries have misperceptions about the link between the current crisis and Pakistan's previous involvement in the Cold War. Cohen examines the motives and consequences of Pakistan's Cold War involvement, and its relationship with the United States and other Western allies. Read More