Afghanistan was not always the abyss it’s thought to be today. If it is to be stabilised, it needs to resume its position as a transit between its many neighbours. Washington, however, remains over-dependent on Pakistani routes to Afghanistan for fear of increasing Iranian influence and in so doin
Two years after becoming a multi-party democracy a political struggle between the president and the opposition-dominated parliament has thrown the country into political deadlock
The war in Afghanistan is at a critical point as it enters its tenth year – and the view that it is unwinnable can be glimpsed in unexpected places.
Kashmir rocked by intensification of violence. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks overshadowed by violence. US drone strike kills 15 in northwest Pakistan. France blocks extradition of Rwandan genocide suspect. All this and more in today’s security briefing.
The annual report for 2010 of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a leading establishment think-tank, raises the prospect of a shift in western policy in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s immense problems can begin to be solved only when powerful interests in Islamabad and Washington end their commitment to armed solutions, says Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed.
IP Adhikari outlines the difficulties faced in imposing a national language in the quest for a Bhutanese national identity
Tehran’s ‘three Persian speaking countries’ project is aimed at subjugating Afghanistan
President Obama declares an end to combat operations in Iraq. Israeli settlers to resume settlement building in Hebron ahead of peace talks. Pakistan blocks British military aid in flood relief efforts. All this and more in today's briefing.
In attempting to suffocate a separate Kashmiri identity, India reveals the cracks in its own idea of nationhood, argues Nitasha Kaul.
The Afghan mission continues to flounder without direction, over a month after the "future of Afghanistan" was discussed at the Kabul Conference.
