The United States and Pakistan have sustained a decades-old partnership on the strength of a Cold War alliance and a set of narrow but shared vital interests. However, the relationship has undergone profound changes as a result of the Afghan War, which on one hand has forced the two countries into an awkward but necessary embrace, and on the other exposed deep and potentially irreconcilable differences.
President Obama's announcement last night that al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special operations forces outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad is welcome news indeed. The death of the man responsible for the worst attack on the U.S. in history represents a major counterterrorism victory, and long overdue justice for the victims of 9/11. But it's hardly the "end of the War on Terror," as some observers have been quick to suggest.
Indian general sounds off on Sino-Pak ties;
ISI chief gets extension;
Panetta rebuffs the ISI;
Ethnic militias on the rise in northern Afghanistan
The Moslehi Affair: A Metric of Ahmadinejad's Power;
Rafsanjani on the Outs;
Tehran Targets Dogs, Pharmaceuticals;
Regime Jitters Over the Green Movement;
Shenzhen crackdown ahead of Summer Universiade;
Premier Wen makes another appeal for reform