In his first interview with a foreign publication since taking office, Pakistan's newly-elected prime minister talks about his plans for the country and his priorities.
Daniel Byman traveled to Israel and Jordan in March -- a time of crisis in the Middle East. During Byman's trip, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets against the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon, an attack occurred in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and Israel took retaliatory measures in the Gaza Strip. In both Israel and Jordan, Byman found that the predominant mood was one of frustration and gloom. Israelis felt trapped between their sense that inaction would encourage more violence and their recognition that the military and political options looked unpromising. Jordanians fretted that the Israeli reaction to the violence would strengthen the radicals politically.
It can, but only if U.S. officials start to think clearly about what success in the war on terror would actually look like. Victory will come only when Washington succeeds in discrediting the terrorists' ideology and undermining their support. These achievements, in turn, will require accepting that the terrorist threat can never be eradicated completely and that acting as though it can will only make it worse.
CFR’s Noah Feldman says outgoing U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales harmed the Department of Justice, especially abroad, by allowing it to become increasingly politicized.
The departure of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales highlights pressing questions about the Justice Department’s role in U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
European efforts to create a common counterterrorism policy continue in fits and starts, with some fearing an erosion of civil rights, and others an uncoordinated system that opens the way for tragedy.
Michael Jacobson, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explains that Europe’s counterterrorism efforts are uneven, despite recent terrorist attempts.
A few years ago, with little fanfare, the United States opened a base in the horn of Africa to kill or capture Al Qaeda fighters. By 2012, the Pentagon will have two dozen such forts. The story of Africa Command, the American military's new frontier outpost.
U.S. efforts to staunch the spread of terrorism across northern Africa have increased. But some experts warn excessive focus on counterterrorism there could be counterproductive.
This commentary by William Tucker published in The American Spectator says that Iraq is a colonial war, and compares it to the US experience in the Philippines.
Facing domestic unrest and an increasingly untenable situation in the northern “tribal lands,” Gen. Pervez Musharraf has signed another controversial pact with tribal militants even as Washington demands a crackdown.
Congress is considering legislation to shore up security along U.S. railways, but the system’s need for openness makes it inherently vulnerable to terrorist attack.
Daniel Markey, a former State Department specialist on South Asia for the Policy Planning Council, says relations between Pakistan and the United States have fluctuated widely in recent years. The United States now needs Pakistan badly to help stem the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Amnesty International reports that the United Kingdom authorities are attempting to deport more than 15 Algerian men considered to be a ‘threat to national security’ to their country of origin, contrary to the prohibition of sending persons to countries where they face a real risk of serious human rights violations, including torture or other ill-treatment. Amnesty says it is concerned that the UK authorities’ claims against these men are based on secret information, including intelligence material, never disclosed to the individuals concerned or their lawyers of choice.
The “war on terrorism” is often portrayed as playing out on the streets of Baghdad or in the mountains of Afghanistan. But New York City is another important battleground and could provide lessons for how other U.S. localities deal with counterterrorism.
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
Special operations play a critical role in how the United States confronts irregular threats, but to have long-term strategic impact, the author argues, numerous shortfalls must be addressed.
The author analyzes the potentially serious consequences, both at home and abroad, of a lightly overseen drone program and makes recommendations for improving its governance.
Two experts argue that despite myriad development strategies, only one can succeed in alleviating poverty in India: the overall growth of the country's economy. More