Latest Articles about South Asia
Tribes and Rebels: The Players in the Balochistan Insurgency
As the violence on Pakistan’s northwest frontier dominates the headlines, a lesser-known insurgency has gripped Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan. Bomb blasts and rocket attacks have become almost daily events in this region: A ten-week period in 2008 saw 76 insurgent-linked incidents reported, claiming the... MORE
Is Global Jihad a Fading Phenomenon?
In dark times, prominent American journalists and scholars can always be relied on to obscure troublesome realities with hope-based theories. On February 28, a leading Washington Post columnist published the results of his interview with a prominent U.S. social scientist/terrorism expert and came to the... MORE
Turkey Unwilling to Commit to Expanded Military Mission in Afghanistan
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Turkey was the first Muslim country to join the United States in the global war on terrorism. As a NATO ally, Turkey first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002 to join the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which came under... MORE
The Haqqani Network and Cross-Border Terrorism in Afghanistan
There has been an increase recently in alleged missile strikes inside Pakistani territory by U.S. forces operating across the border in Afghanistan. The attacks come at a time when there is a growing call in the United States for strikes on Pakistani territory to take... MORE
India’s Intelligence Services Struggle with War on Terrorism
A diffuse but highly networked group of terrorists, driven by a dangerous cocktail of extremist ideology and a simmering sense of anguish and revenge, currently pose a serious threat to India's economic and social structure. The militants exploit gaping holes in India’s counter-terrorism architecture and... MORE
Omar bin Laden: Osama’s Flower-Child Son or al-Qaeda Disinformation Agent?
In recent months, 26-year-old Omar bin Laden—Osama bin Laden’s eldest son—has made headlines around the world for marrying a 51-year old British grandmother and sounding like a refugee from 1960s-era San Francisco, urging his father to give peace a chance. With his long braided hair,... MORE
Baitullah Mehsud: Scapegoat or Perpetrator in Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination?
Baitullah Mehsud, chief of Pakistan’s Tehrek-e-Taliban (Movement of the Taliban), was declared a “proclaimed offender” on March 1 with a warrant of arrest issued for him by an anti-terrorist court in Rawalpindi for allegedly masterminding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in that city on December... MORE
Musharraf and Pakistan’s Military Try to Restore Security amidst Rising Anti-U.S. Sentiment
The old saying that “things can always get worse” has never been truer than for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his former colleagues in the country’s military. Faced with rampant terrorism, growing domestic instability, an increasingly hated U.S. ally and a NATO force in Afghanistan... MORE
RUSSIA, AFGHANISTAN AND THE DRUG TRADE
Alarmed by the rise of opium cultivation in Afghanistan, Russia’s Federal Drug Enforcement Service has opened a permanent office in Kabul, Afghanistan. Federal Drug Enforcement Service Director Alexei Milovanov said of the move, “Russia advances cooperation and interaction with Afghanistan in the war on drug... MORE
The Pakistan Connection to the United Kingdom’s Jihad Network
Recent weeks have seen increasing international interest in the connections between jihadis in the UK and their counterparts in Pakistan. Attention has focused on how such groups and individuals could link up and cooperate to carry out attacks in Europe, South Asia or the United... MORE