The era of U.S.-approved, iron-fisted Arab dictators is over. Washington must get used to a Middle East in which public opinion matters to a much greater extent, anti-Western sentiment abounds and political Islam emerges as a major force.
The outcome in Afghanistan won't resemble the vision of America and its allies, who wanted a strong, Western-aligned central government keeping the Taliban at bay. The goals should now be less ambitious.
U.S.-Pakistani relations are in crisis. Strategic fear of India prevents Pakistan from bending to U.S. demands. Easing India-Pakistan tensions could change the dynamics of the U.S.-Pakistan alliance.
Sunni vs. Shia. Kurd vs. Arab. Nationalist vs. Islamist. Iraq circa 2011 is looking an awful lot like Iraq circa 2004. The country is headed back to the anarchic depths from which it ever-so-briefly emerged.
Saudi Arabia is the guardian of the Mideast counterrevolution—and America is its greatest enabler. A club of royals under the Kingdom’s protection is now a reality.
Securing Pakistan is far more important than “victory” in Afghanistan. And the U.S. counterinsurgency campaign is only stoking extremist flames in the Hindu Kush. Washington must pull back.
Like his two most recent predecessors, President Obama is embarking on a disastrous foreign policy bent on global domination.
Angry protests and brutal crackdowns are nothing new to Kashmir. Neither is the intrigue between India and Pakistan. What has changed is Kashmiris' renunciation of violence—and a reawakened desire for autonomy.
Pakistan's military-intelligence complex is too preoccupied with countering India to mount a serious campaign against radicals who threaten the nation's survival. The country is being destroyed from within.
Should Kabul be the focus of Obama’s strategic agenda? Former NIO Pillar argues intervention has devolved into a worthless quagmire. Iraq War veteran Nagl believes we must vanquish al-Qaeda to the borderlands of AfPak.
