A rise in drug use in Iran is one overlooked consequence of the surge in opium production in the Taliban-run provinces of southern Afghanistan.

The anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, virtually unknown before the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s government, has leveraged his family name to become one of the most influential Shiite leaders in m…

In the face of persistently high unemployment, policymakers and workers look to innovation and entrepreneurship to create new jobs. This Backgrounder discusses how entrepreneurs create and finance th…

As NATO prepares to take over military operations in southern Afghanistan from U.S. forces, the Taliban’s increasingly bold attacks are straining the political and security framework of the country.

Suicide bombings, once unheard of in Afghanistan, are now on the rise. More than two dozen suicide attacks since parliamentary elections in September 2005 have raised fears that Afghan militants are …