Two key issues in Afghanistan are whether President Hamid Karzai will implement reforms and whether the American public is willing to invest the time it will take for a successful counterinsurgency, …

After months of harsh words, the White House’s conciliatory tone during the Afghan president’s visit was calibrated to encourage Karzai to behave more like a "wartime leader and less like an innocent…

Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad says the Obama administration must determine how to use its leverage to help shape a competent government in Kabul.

F. Gregory Gause III, a leading expert on Iraq and Saudi Arabia, says a lack of leadership among Iraq’s Shiite politicians is holding up approval of a U.S.-Iraqi security pact. He also talks about ne…

Ashley J. Tellis, a prominent expert on South Asian security affairs, says President Bush’s effort to mediate the differences between the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan is unprecedented and u…