In early February, the emir of the Taliban in South Waziristan reached a peace deal with the central authorities in Islamabad. Baitullah Mehsud promised not to shelter or support foreign militants nor attack government installations and forces. If the agreement holds, it will help pacify... MORE

The recent constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ) in Kabul, which ratified the new constitution for Afghanistan and set the stage for presidential and parliamentary elections later this year, was successfully carried out without interference from the armed opposition. The event, held under strict security, was not... MORE

Over the past three years, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)--a group on the U.S. Department of State's list of international terrorist organizations--has kept a very low profile. Twice, in the summers of 1999 and 2000, IMU militants attempted to overthrow the secular regime in... MORE

While China's allegations of links between the Uighur insurgency and the al-Qaeda linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) are mostly based on fragmentary data, there is evidence that beginning in the 1990s and continuing today, a potent cocktail of drugs, weapons and Islamic extremism is... MORE

Since the overthrow of the Taliban, most media reports on Afghanistan have warned of rising lawlessness throughout the countryside. Outside the capital Kabul, which is patrolled by international peacekeeping troops, we are told that "anarchy" prevails. The reports attribute this state of affairs to America's... MORE

This month marks the two-year anniversary of the Taliban's fall. While the need for improvement in Afghanistan remains, the country's population appears better off now than at any time since warfare first broke out over two decades ago. The Afghan people themselves support this conclusion... MORE

The true impact of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan is considerably at odds with the Bush Administration's expansive rhetoric. The United States seeks to wage the war on terrorism, establish a democratic Afghanistan and reconstruct the country. However, in Afghanistan, due to the lack of security... MORE

Sheberghan, Northern Afghanistan. August 2003. On the windswept plains outside this gas-producing town on the steppes of northern Afghanistan is a graveyard containing the bodies of 114 commanders killed in the early days of the war on terror. Above each grave is a picture of... MORE

The Hizb ut Tahrir al Islami (Islamic Liberation party, HuT) transnational Islamic radical movement is widely reported to have become stronger in Central Asia over the course of 2003 despite the widespread anti-terrorist activities in the region that have gravely damaged al Qaida and the... MORE

Though Afghanistan today faces many threats, the greatest is that from Islamist extremists inside the country as well as those sheltering in the neighboring provinces of Pakistan. The most recent period has seen adversaries of the Karzai government and the US regroup their main forces.... MORE