As Taliban forces edged to within 60 miles of Islamabad late last month, the Obama administration urgently asked for new intelligence assessments of whether Pakistan’s government would survive. In briefings last week, senior officials said, President Obama and his National Security Council were told that neither a Taliban takeover nor a military coup was imminent […]
MOHRI PUR, Pakistan — The elementary school in this poor village is easy to mistake for a barn. It has a dirt floor and no lights, and crows swoop through its glassless windows. Class size recently hit 140, spilling students into the courtyard. But if the state has forgotten the children here, the mullahs have […]
WASHINGTON — As the insurgency of the Taliban and Al Qaeda spreads in Pakistan, senior American officials say they are increasingly concerned about new vulnerabilities for Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, including the potential for militants to snatch a weapon in transport or to insert sympathizers into laboratories or fuel-production facilities. The officials emphasized that there was […]
After joining the “war on terror” following the attacks on the United States in September 2001, Pakistan saw a significant rise in attacks by tribal movements and groups linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The security forces have borne much of the brunt of the violence but hundreds of civilians have also been killed. 2007 […]
Once again, Karachi is burning, and everyone has a theory. On April 29, at least 34 people were killed in an escalating wave of violence across the port city. Most of the dead were Pathan, though the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also claimed losses. Even before funeral processions were organised and the last fires […]
Washington Post Columnist David Ignatius writes about moderating a panel discussion at Davos that erupted into a minor international incident between Israel and Turkey. At the event, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres launched into a long rebuttal to the other speakers, defending Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip. Trying to respond, Turkish Prime Minister Recep […]
The Foreign Policy Association has published Part II of my analysis of the South African elections. (For Part I, go here.) For an interesting (though I would argue imperfect and perhaps even reductionist) take on why the Congress of the People fell short, see this piece in The New Republic. NB: I will spent the next […]
“Is he the affable front man for the business-as-usual hard-liners, a puppet president who offers soothing remarks, but little else? Or is he a genuine reformer who is edging Russia away from the more heavy-handed practices of Mr. Putin, but needs time to make his mark?” What Clifford Levy writes in today’s New York Times […]
According to the new Freedom House Press report, Israel dropped from Free to Partly Free status. The new ranking, though, remains just beyond the threshold to obtain a Free ranking. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority ranked as Not Free and Israel maintains the best overall free press score in the region. A quick summary of the […]
As U.S. attorneys dropped the espionage case against two former AIPAC officials, Vice President Joe Biden will headline the groups annual meeting. Other prominent speakers include House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, Sen. Dick Durbin, and Reps. Jane Harman and Eric Cantor. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will address the […]
With President Zardari due to arrive in Washington next week, the US has piled on the pressure on the civilian government. On Wednesday, President Obama explicitly spelled out his concern: ‘The civilian government there right now is very fragile and [doesn’t] seem to have the capacity to deliver basic services.’ Perhaps Mr Obama meant less […]
PESHAWAR: Suspected militants have warned female teachers and students in Peshawar to wear a veil and accompany male members of their families while going schools, or face action. A resident of the Achini village (upper), who asked not to be named, told Dawn that suspected militants had sent threatening letters more than once to the […]
Popular from Press
