The Washington-Tehran detente
As if to reaffirm the proposition that inter-state relations know no permanent friends and no perpetual foes, Iran and the United States are inching towards normalisation of relations. The Washington-Tehran…
Washington’s nuclear agenda
The Pakistan-US joint statement on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Washington last month contains a section on ‘Non-proliferation, Nuclear Security and Strategic Stability’. As noted by Michael Krepon of…
An innocent in Washington
For decades, Pakistan has had a single-item foreign policy: Kashmir. Of late, drones have been added to this short list. Long gone are the days when Pakistan commanded respect on…
Washington gridlock may disrupt vital money markets
The fight over raising the US debt ceiling is starting to rattle the money markets and could eventually disrupt the flow of cash needed for banks to lend and companies…
Far from Iran election, former guerrillas lobby Washington
For decades, an Iranian dissident group has seemed to be on the wrong side of history. Suppressed by both the Shah of Iran and then the ayatollahs who deposed him…
Outrage over phone data sweep unites scrappy Washington
Like two warring gangs caught in police headlights, Washington's bitterly divided political sides dropped their weapons on Thursday and stood united behind a vast programme of government telephone snooping. What?…
Karzai in Washington
As I write this on Tuesday morning the drama of the ‘long march’ of the Tehrik Minhaj-ul-Quran dominates the air waves. Whatever its outcome we must recognise that it reflects…
Washington’s tough talk
The US frustration over Pakistan’s inability to curb militant activities on its soil and counter the scourge of extremist mindset has spilled again in public. This time, the tough-talk came…
Muddled Washington
Former president Pervez Musharraf’s call for a constitutional role for the Pakistan Army has led many to describe him as ‘crazy’. Declaring that the army is Pakistan’s only saviour when…
Karzai in Washington
By the time this article appears President Karzai will have arrived in Washington and possibly have had his first round of talks with President Obama and with a now recovered…
