Of late, al-Qaeda's South Asia branch has been proactive and forceful in its campaign against India and its neighbors. A “code of conduct,” released by the group in June 2017, signaled an expanded geographical scope by including Afghanistan and Myanmar into its supposed domain of... MORE

In mid-August 2015, the voice of Hamza Bin Laden, the so-called crown prince of jihad, reached al-Qaeda’s foot soldiers and sympathizers worldwide for the first time through an audio message. In that message, Hamza, a son of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was introduced and strongly endorsed... MORE

The emergence of violent Barelvi extremism in Pakistan was brought sharply to the country’s attention last year when Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah, an Islamist political party, staged an almost month-long sit-in that later turned violent. The party objected to an alleged change to the wording... MORE

A deepening electoral crisis in the small island nation of the Maldives, located roughly 300 miles west-southwest of India’s southern tip, has highlighted the growth of Chinese interests in a part of the world long considered India’s strategic backyard, and points the way toward likely... MORE

Perhaps few places on earth are as wrapped in mystery and intrigue as the northern reaches of Afghanistan, where, 150 years ago, Russia and the United Kingdom played the great game against one another and where, most recently, Moscow and the West were locked in... MORE

Despite relentless anti-terror drives aimed at neutralizing the resurgence of Islamic militants, Bangladeshi authorities are still struggling to contain the surge of Islamist militancy that has sprung up in the country since the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in July 2016. Groups linked to and inspired... MORE

Wilayat-e-Khorasan, the Islamic State (IS) affiliate in the borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of the terrorist group’s strongest franchises. Bolstered by defections from the Taliban and boosted further in recent months by an influx of foreign fighters fleeing defeat in Iraq and Syria,... MORE

Afghanistan: Peace Talks Remain a Distant Prospect Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government appear further off than ever after unofficial attempts to restart discussions coincided with an attack on a luxury hotel in Kabul. Taliban gunmen attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul... MORE

When Uzbekistanis elected Shavkat Mirziyoyev as their president on December 4, 2016, they entered 2017 with a healthy dose of skepticism that real change would follow. Indeed, during his first public address as the interim head of state, Mirziyoyev, previous president Islam Karimov’s prime minister... MORE

Serious differences have come to the fore between China and Pakistan over the $60-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). At a Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting at Islamabad in November 2017, China announced its decision to suspend funding for at least three road projects in Pakistan, pending... MORE