Crisis in Pakistan: The Rise of the Taliban
on Jun 9, 2009 in Nawaz Sharif Pakistani politics Taliban Afghanistan Ittefaq Pakistani government Punjab Bhuttos Asif Ali Zardari Sharia Law Pakistan Pakistani Army Sharifs Soviet Union Sindh Pashtuns Part 2 of a 6 part essay on the growing threat of the Taliban in Pakistan and how to combat itAlthough the Taliban had no presence in Pakistan before 2001, the radical Muslim Pashtun group did have several advantages upon arriving in Pakistan that wo...

Crisis in Pakistan: Working with China and Russia
on Jun 9, 2009 in Kashmir U.S. policy Afghanistan nuclear weapons Uyghurs Chechnya Mumbai attacks Russia United States India China Xinjiang/East Turkistan Pakistan Pakistani Army Part 5 of a 6 part essay on the growing threat of the Taliban in Pakistan and how to combat itIn addition to trying to set up a Marshall Plan for Pakistan, the United States should also strive to work together with other regional powers, such as Chin...

Crisis in Pakistan: Limitations of the United States in Pakistan and of the Pakistani Government
on Jun 9, 2009 in Kashmir Pakistani politics Taliban ISI U.S. policy Afghanistan Mumbai attacks India Asif Ali Zardari Pakistan Pakistani Army Lashkar-e-Taiba Swat Valley Part 3 of a 6 part essay on the growing threat of the Taliban in Pakistan and how to combat itThe events of the first half of 2009 seem to follow the pattern of the Taliban expansion cycle, with the Taliban transgression into Swat, the truce, and the...

Crisis in Pakistan: A Marshall Plan for Pakistan?
on Jun 9, 2009 in Nawaz Sharif Pakistani politics Taliban U.S. policy Pakistani Army Pakistan U.S. aid Pakistani government economy Part 4 of a 6 part essay on the growing threat of the Taliban in Pakistan and how to combat itIn order to begin to permanently roll back the Taliban, the Pakistani government must give the Pakistani people confidence that it can effectively provide f...

Crisis in Pakistan: Introduction
on Jun 9, 2009 in Iraq Taliban Al Qaeda U.S. policy Afghanistan Pakistani Army Swat Valley Part 1 of a 6 part essay on the growing threat of the Taliban in Pakistan and how to combat itEver since the shocking, saddening events of September 11, 2001, U.S. policy has been dominated by an array of initiatives known collectively as the “war...

Crisis in Pakistan: Conclusion
on Jun 9, 2009 in United States Taliban nuclear weapons Pakistan Part 6 of a 6 part essay on the growing threat of the Taliban in Pakistan and how to combat itThere are some who believe that the Taliban has no chance of toppling the Pakistani government. There are others who believe that it is only a matter of tim...

A Tale of Economic Hardship: Human Rights First and the Madoff Fallout
on Mar 10, 2009 in Human Rights First human rights Madoff scandal economy ACLU I know I do not need to remind anyone of the bleak state of the economy: the impact of the current global economic downturn has been hard-felt and all-encompassing. Indeed, not too long ago, someone in my immediate family lost her job, victimized n...

What it Takes to be an Island: The Ukrainian-Romanian Dispute Over the Status of Snake Island
on Feb 11, 2009 in Romania LOSC Ottoman Empire Ukraine Soviet Union Snake Island Russian Empire ICJ The following is the second of two potentially groundbreaking cases concerning maritime delimitation and island sovereignty that were pending in the International Court of Justice in 2008.Dictionary.com defines an island as “a tract of land complet...

The Latest Israel-Hamas Conflict and Where Israel Should Go From Here
on Feb 1, 2009 in Gaza Palestinians Fatah Israel Hamas Egypt Last December, 2008, after a renewed rocket barrage from Hamas ended hopes of an extended ceasefire, Israel launched a large-scale retaliatory air and ground assault on the radical Muslim group in Gaza.Three weeks, 1300 Palestinian deaths, and $2 bil...

The Mumbai Attacks and the Future of Indian-Pakistani and U.S.-Pakistani Relations
on Jan 18, 2009 in India Pakistani politics Taliban ISI Al Qaeda nuclear weapons Pakistani Army Pakistan Lashkar-e-Taiba U.S. aid Pakistani government Mumbai attacks With tensions between India and Pakistan escalating in the wake of last November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Barack Obama need not look any further as to where his first test as President will come. Relations between the two South Asian...