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Just as the 9/11 terrorist attacks highlighted Saudi Arabia's responsibility in encouraging Islamist extremism, the July 7 bombings in London must lead to scrutiny of Pakistan's role in fomenting global jihad. Three of the four London bombers were Britons of Pakistani origin and had visited Pakistan recently. The Pakistan connection to the bombings is as significant as the nationality of the 9/11 attackers, fourteen of whom were Saudi nationals.
Critics who scoffed at Bush's attempt to put ethics at the heart of U.S. foreign policy were misguided, because such considerations have been a crucial part of policy debates since the country's founding. What they should have criticized instead was Bush's narrow focus on one particular principle, political freedom, in isolation from other components of the American creed.
At the close of the Gleneagles Summit this week, Russia will take over leadership of the Group of Eight, the "super club" of countries that in theory are driving the world economy and political system.
The arrest in California of a Pakistani father and son allegedly linked to terrorism highlights, once again, the superficiality of the Pakistani regime’s rhetoric about changing the country’s direction.
There is nothing remarkable about polls showing Americans wondering whether the recent Iraq war was "worth it." There's always a question. But demanding unmixed results and guarantees against the unintended consequences of war is as unrealistic as demanding absolute confidence in the "necessity" of going to war in the first place.
The underlying message of statements made during his recent trip to Pakistan by Hindu nationalist leader L K Advani seems to be that India and Pakistan must get over the bitterness of their partition 58 years ago. They need to accept each other as neighbours and address the issues that face their people.
In the last few years, Arab liberals have been gradually reaching out to moderate Islamists and engaging them in campaigns calling for reforms. These are steps in the right direction and the U.S. and Europe should learn from this example. The cause of political transformation in the region is best served by bringing in Islamist movements and their popular constituencies.
Talking to the Muslim Brotherhood and other mainstream Islamist organizations should be a central, ongoing task for American diplomats in the Middle East. It would do more to restore the tarnished image of the United States in the Arab world than any public diplomacy initiative launched so far.
Jessica Mathews plays director of national intelligence in Atlantic-sponsored war game.