Pakistan is a Major non-NATO ally of the United States and an essential country for reducing terrorist threats from South Asia.
How did Pakistan rank in the Index of Economic Freedom? Click here to find out. Read More.
Containing the global terrorist threat in South Asia will depend largely on the ability of the United States to forge a trusting and cooperative partnership with Pakistan over the next several years. Read More.
Pakistanis deserve credit for braving this weekend’s polls in the face of a ruthless campaign of bombings and shootings against candidates, election workers, public rallies and polling booths. With a fairly robust voter turnout of around 60 percent and marking the country’s first successful democratic transition, the elections represent a boost for civilian—over…
With violence against the mainstream political parties escalating, initial Pakistani excitement about the upcoming national elections is beginning to give way to fear that bombs, not ballots, will have the greatest impact on the outcome. Over the last several weeks, Pakistani observers have touted the fact that for the first time in the country’s history, a…
Tensions between India and Pakistan are heating up along the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir. A series of border incidents in early January left three Pakistani and two Indian soldiers dead. One of the Indian soldiers was beheaded and another severely mutilated, provoking Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to say that India’s ties with Pakistan would not be…
Testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, United States House of Representatives September 13, 2012 My name is Lisa Curtis. I am Senior Research Fellow on South Asia at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are my own and should not…
America’s Enduring Leadership in Asia America has been engaged in Asia since a few decades after securing its independence. Its early interest is documented in the 1833 Treaty on Amity and Commerce between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Siam Thailand), and later in the market-opening 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan. The U.S. has, in fact, been a “resident…
Christmas Eve, 1999. Indian Airlines Flight 814, en route from Nepal to India, was taken over by a group of armed men. The plane zigzagged to Lahore, Pakistan, then to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and, finally, to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. One passenger was stabbed to death; several others were wounded. Taliban fighters ringed the plane to prevent any rescue…
The latest in a long-string of problems in US-Pakistan relations is the sentencing of Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, to 33 years in prison for treason. And what, exactly, was the treasonous act? Afridi allegedly participated in the intelligence operation that led to the takedown of Osama bin Laden last May. And just when you thought US-Pakistan relations couldn’t…
In 2006, then-President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan offered a startling revelation. A senior US official, he claimed, had “said that after the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States threatened to bomb his country if it did not cooperate with America's war campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.” Lots of things have changed in Washington since 9/11, but being…
Pakistan missed a valuable opportunity to create goodwill with the U.S. and other NATO members when it failed to announce a reopening of NATO supply routes to Afghanistan at the summit held Sunday and Monday in Chicago. Not only has Pakistan’s closure of the supply routes over the past six months made the war effort more expensive for NATO members, but its failure to…
A North Korean long-range ballistic missile launch into the Pacific Ocean, Russian threats of a preemptive strike against U.S. missile defenses in Europe, the Syrian regime’s continuing violence on protestors, and Taliban terrorist attacks in Afghanistan are just a few of the recent events that should serve to remind us that we are living in uncertain times…
Abstract: In June 2011, President Barack Obama released a new National Strategy for Counterterrorism. This document profoundly misreads the nature of the global transnational threat. Following this strategy for a few years will result in a resurgent threat as dangerous as that shortly after 9/11. Dealing with the “next wave” of transnational terrorism will require a…
Abstract: After the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan in May 2011, Pakistani political leaders played up their country’s relations with China, touting Beijing as an alternative partner to Washington. But China’s concerns over Pakistan’s future stability will likely limit the extent to which it will help Pakistan out of its economic difficulties. While…
Last month, Kazakhstan’s Parliament approved the sending of troops to Afghanistan. The Taliban immediately issued a threat, warning Kazakhstan that its willingness to participate in the war on terrorism would make the country a target for violence. Days later, Kazakh security services’ headquarters in the northwestern city of Aktobe and the capital city of Astana were…
Delivered Before the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives on June 27, 2007 The potential for the intersection of terrorism and nuclear weapons is arguably the greatest threat to American national, even global,…
The situation in Afghanistan has spiraled downward over the past 10 days, but before making hasty decisions on next steps in Afghanistan, U.S. policymakers need to consider what has contributed to this ominous turn of events and what options there are for adjusting the U.S. strategy to avoid further such incidents. U.S. policymakers should also be aware that leaving…
A Pakistan parliamentary committee has released its recommendations for “resetting” the parameters of U.S.–Pakistan relations. U.S.–Pakistan ties have been severely strained since the November 26, 2011, NATO attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the border with Afghanistan. Since then, there have been no high-level U.S. visits to Pakistan, and NATO supply routes…
The Obama Administration has been banking on Pakistani cooperation with its strategy to start a political reconciliation process inside Afghanistan as it withdraws U.S troops from the battlefield and shifts responsibility for security operations to the Afghan forces. Pakistani leaders have demonstrated little interest in assisting the U.S. with such efforts, however, and…
Credible U.S. press reports yesterday revealed that cell phones found on the attackers in the September 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul were linked to Pakistani intelligence officials. The U.S. has long known that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), works closely with the Haqqani insurgent network, which has been…
In the lead up to the historic May 11 elections, the Pakistani Taliban (also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan...…
Drug wars have plagued Asia for decades, and the drug problem continues to stem the tide of economic growth and...…
This week, the parliament of Bahrain voted unanimously to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. “It is time we...…
This morning, by a vote of 154 nations in favor (including the United States), 23 abstentions, and three against (Syria,...…
More than 3,000 Muslims stormed a Christian enclave in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, and proceeded to burn down an...…
America has been buzzing about the dresses, the stars, the winners, and the hit films all week. But the most important...…
For the past few weeks, India’s internal turmoil has been on display via news headlines on rape, widespread poverty,...…
Senator Rand Paul (R–KY) will deliver remarks Wednesday at The Heritage Foundation laying out his ideas for “Restoring...…
Airstrikes carried out by U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly referred to as drones) have been criticized for...…
Zero dark thirty seemed like time the movie finally ended. The long-awaited film that chronicles how the CIA tracked...…
Senior Research Fellow