UN Special Rapporteur on Human rights and Counterterrorism Ben Emmerson released this statement on March 14, 2013, following his meetings in Pakistan with victims of drone strikes.
Frank Klotz explores the role of history in the Pakistani nuclear program and the challenges for the future in his review of Feroz Hassan Khan's recently released Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb.
Park Ihn-hwi of Ewha Woman's University discusses the new Park Geun-hye administration's likely foreign policy, domestic challenges to her initiatives, and implications for the U.S.-ROK alliance.
National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon gave these remarks at Asia Society in New York on March 11, 2013. He discussed why the Obama administration "rebalanced" to Asia, how the United States will contribute to the region's security, and regional and economic architecture.
The Six-Party Talks serve as a forum for the denuclearization of North Korea, but analysts say the negotiations have been hindered by Pyongyang's belligerence and the shifting priorities of participating nations.
This report looks at why extremist strategic communications in Pakistan have been so successful and what it would take for the government and its allies to reverse the gains of what is sometimes called "the al-Qaeda worldview." Like all good communications campaigns, extremist messaging is grounded in a reality. In this case, that reality is the views and emotions—and the narratives that articulate them—that were born out of the establishment and subsequent conduct of the state of Pakistan.
The UN Security Council passed this resolution including economic sanctions on North Korea on March 7, 2013, after North Korea's nuclear test on February 12, 2013. North Korea said it will end its armistice agreement with South Korea if the resolution passed.
North Korean Supreme Command of the Korean Army released this statement on March 5, 2013, saying that North Korea will no longer recognize the Korean Armistice Agreement if the UN Security Council passed a resolution and sanctions against North Korea after its February nuclear test.
Several high-profile sexual assault cases in India have sparked a national debate over women's rights and the need for social reform in a rapidly modernizing country, explains this Backgrounder.
The answer is simple: 9/11. The most costly terrorist attack ever was carried out from Afghanistan. The United States showed bipartisan determination to bring the perpetrators to justice and—the part that explains our continuing engagement in Afghanistan—to prevent its soil from ever being used again to stage terrorist attacks.
The Obama administration's "pivot" to Asia made sense, because China was starting to doubt U.S. staying power. Now that Washington has sent Beijing a clear message it will be around for the long haul, however, the time has come for the two countries to deepen and institutionalize their relationship in order to secure Asia's lasting peace and prosperity.
Instead of continuing their endless battling, the United States and Pakistan should acknowledge that their interests simply do not converge enough to make them strong partners. Giving up the fiction of an alliance would free up Washington to explore new ways of achieving its goals in South Asia. And it would allow Islamabad to finally pursue its regional ambitions -- which would either succeed once and for all or, more likely, teach Pakistani officials the limitations of their country's power.
Benn Steil's Wall Street Journal op-ed explains the unique historical circumstances in which the Bretton Woods international monetary system emerged in 1944, and why calls for "a new Bretton Woods" today will go unsatisfied.
The election of the hawkish Shinzo Abe as Japan's prime minister has the world worrying that Tokyo is about to part with its pacifist strategy of the last 70 years. But Japan's new leaders are pragmatic, and so long as the United States does not waver in its commitment to the country's defense, they are unlikely chart a new course.
Pundits tend to treat terrorism and guerrilla tactics as something new, but nothing could be further from the truth. Although the agendas have changed over the years -- from tribalism, to liberalism and nationalism, to socialism, to jihadist extremism -- guerrilla and terrorist warfare has been ubiquitous throughout history and consistently deadly.
Intervening in Pakistani elections is a losing proposition, CFR Senior Fellow Daniel Markey argues. If pro-American leaders win, they will be tainted by association; if their opponents win, the United States will have alienated potential partners.
South Korea's vice minister of foreign affairs and trade explains the need for an increasing role of middle powers in global governance and South Korea's role in the G20.
For more on the complex challenges that lie ahead for the world's largest and most rapidly changing continent, visit the Asia Program.
CFR Experts Guide
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