Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Marina Ottaway was joined by Shibley Telhami, Nawaf Obaid, and Mamoun Fandy to discuss challenges in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Terrorism's deep roots in the Middle East, and the nationalities of those involved in the recent attacks, have drawn even greater attention to the region.
The waiving of U.S. sanctions and the promise of economic assistance cannot have come too soon for Pakistan. The country has a teetering economy with an external debt of $32 billion, with 60% of the government's revenue going towards servicing the country's total debt. Prior to September 22nd and October 17th waivers, U.S. assistance to Pakistan was limited to mainly refugee and counter-narcotics assistance as well as an education program. We offer a brief summary of the primary sanctions that have been lifted.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell traveled to South Asia, at least in part "to lower the temperature," over Kashmir. On October 15 the urgency of his mission was dramatized by the Indian shelling across the Line of Control at Pakistani positions. There is fear that heightened tensions and heated rhetoric might spill over into unintended military escalation in the mountains of Kashmir.
It is important to have partners in the war on terrorism, Carnegie's Robert Kagan writes, but a unilateral determination to act invariably precedes a policy of effective multilateralism.
This book examines the forces—political, strategic, technological, and ideational—that led to India's dramatic nuclear policy shift and describes how New Delhi's force-in-being will be fashioned, particularly in light of the threat India faces from its two most salient adversaries, China, and Pakistan.
Military operations appear imminent as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld takes a swing through the Middle East and Central Asia. But this will not be like previous wars. Don't expect to see explosions behind CNN reporters. The targets will be select, precise and far from telephoto lenses.