Despite the emphasis put on Pakistan’s role in stabilizing Afghanistan, its support is not the only regional element needed to ensure stability there. Several other states in the region have significant interests in Afghanistan and will also directly impact the outcome. Establishing a sustainable peace in Afghanistan will require maneuvering carefully within this minefield of divergent foreign interests. more
The U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership agreement that President Barack Obama recently signed in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai is noteworthy for the lessons it draws from similar agreements with Iraq and other countries, as well as for the pitfalls it avoids repeating. In particular, the Obama administration was successful because it identified and applied the lessons of history in three key ways. more
The U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan planned for 2014 means that some kind of a settlement with the Taliban is all but inevitable. However, the process of negotiating peace in Afghanistan faces several domestic challenges. Overcoming them will require a robust national reconciliation process that is far more extensive than the currently stalled negotiations toward a power-sharing agreement. more
A series of recent crises in Mali and Guinea Bissau have put the Economic Community of West African States in the spotlight, demonstrating the organization’s potential to shape West African politics, but also the limitations on its ability to do so. Through political pressure and threats of military efforts, ECOWAS is attempting to push West African coups beyond the boundaries of political acceptability. more
Senior leaders from China, Japan and South Korea met in Beijing last weekend, where they agreed to work toward establishing a free-trade zone, the latest in a flurry of trilateral economic deals in recent months. But despite these developments, the geopolitical situation in Northeast Asia remains fragmented, and a multilateral architecture capable of containing latent regional threats is some way off. more
The importance attached to tomorrow’s G-8 summit vindicates those who defended the G-8 against charges of irrelevance over the past few years. The G-8 was unfairly and prematurely dismissed as a relic from a bygone era. Unfairly, because it continued to address issues that remain outside the G-20’s mandate; prematurely because it remains the most effective trans-Atlantic forum for economic issues. more
In the run-up to Algeria's May 10 parliamentary elections, U.S. officials lauded President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s acceptance of international election observers, as well as recently passed “reforms,” as progress toward democracy. But Algeria’s ability to avoid the upheaval of the Arab Spring has less to do with a proactive leadership and more to do with its wary, apathetic citizenry. more
Prior to the next round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group on May 23 in Baghdad, reports have suggested that Tehran is prepared to make substantive concessions on its uranium enrichment program. But while Iran certainly needs a deal, political paralysis in Tehran will be an obstacle to reaching any definitive decision, meaning the Baghdad talks could prove as inconclusive as previous ones. more
El Salvador, only recently home to the world’s second-highest homicide rate, has watched murders plummet by 60 percent since early March due to a negotiated truce between the country’s two leading gangs. But the truce has left lawmakers and security experts across the region grappling with a slew of unsettling questions. And despite initial positive results, it remains a partial and fragile solution. more
Despite parallel histories and a concerted push on both sides to forge lasting ties, Georgia and Israel face very different geopolitical concerns and increasingly conflicting national interests. Indeed, their partnership, which once seemed so natural, now looks permanently derailed. The August 2008 Russia-Georgia War, in particular, was the beginning of the end for Georgia and Israel’s friendship. more
The Asian Development Bank recently confirmed that Pakistan’s lackluster economic performance in recent years is essentially a reflection of its ongoing energy crisis. An improvement in Pakistan’s energy situation requires both increasing the share of coal in its power-generating portfolio and enhancing the availability of natural gas. Neither course is likely without a rapprochement with India. more
