Aqim sets sights on Tunisia;
Hamas to choose next leader;
Afghanistan, Tajikistan talk econ ties

Israel weighs possible attack on Syria's chemical arsenal; U.S. hopes for new military base in Tajikistan...; ...while Russia simply hopes to remain; A way out for Assad; Sectarian violence surges in Iraq

Recent developments in Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere have convinced skeptics that U.S. human rights promotion in the Middle East causes more harm than good by inciting instability — positioning the Muslim Brotherhood and other anti-Western forces to win elections or otherwise seize power.

Delivering her Nobel Lecture after a 21-year delay, Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi offered a timely reminder from the front lines of struggle.

“To be forgotten,” she said in her October 16^th address in Oslo, “… is to die a little. It is to lose some of the links that anchor us to the rest of humanity. When I met Burmese migrant workers and refugees during my recent visit to Thailand, many cried out, ‘Don’t forget us!’ They meant: ‘Don’t forget our plight, don’t forget to do what you can to help us, don’t forget we also belong to your world.’

With two important diplomatic victories last month, the Obama administration has laid the groundwork for the final chapters of the Afghan war.

 Azerbaijan-Israel ties continue to grow; Who is poisoning Afghan school children?; Alleged Israeli spy executed in Iran; Where in the world is Mohammed Rashid?

Have we well and truly entered the “post-al-Qaeda era”? A year after Osama Bin Laden’s death at the hands of U.S. commandos, some experts and commentators are taking to the idea that the threat which preoccupied U.S. foreign policy for the past decade is now all but ancient history.

An unlikely champion for Russia's opposition;

As Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad continues his slaughter, the issue is not whether more forceful U.S. action to stop him is risk-free.

To Syria, with arms...and possibly manpower;

Talk to civilian and military officials who've recently served in Afghanistan and you will be hard-pressed to find a single optimistic assessment of our current strategy there.

 Wooing Afghanistan; Sanctions Drive Iranian Rial Downward; A Falling Out with Al-Jazeera; Iran's Newest Energy Partner; A New Cyber-Clampdown

As the United States and other NATO countries begin to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan, Afghan and US policymakers alike fear a return to the carnage that characterized the five year civil war (1996-2001) between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. In that conflict, battles over large population centres and campaigns of ethnic cleansing killed thousands. To prevent a repeat of that disaster, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Obama administration are now seeking to negotiate a truce with the Taliban. But just how likely is such a peace deal to materialize – or to hold, if it does?

Among the lessons from the successful raid on Osama bin Laden's refuge is the value of cooperative relations with Russia.

Consider that until recently, Pakistan enjoyed a chokehold on supplies for American and other allied forces in Afghanistan. A trickle of the vast logistical requirements of the war came in from the north, by air through Kyrgyzstan. The Pakistani leadership exploited its near-monopoly to extract massive aid from Washington and to limit American operations across the porous frontier region joining Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Call it the Great Game, round three. The first such contest, famously chronicled by Rudyard Kipling, involved the 19th century struggle for dominance between the British and Russian empires over access to India and its lucrative trading routes. The second centered on the post-Soviet scramble for resources and influence in energy-rich Central Asia. Today, a third such round of geopolitical competition is emerging in South Asia, spurred by the vast energy potential of the post-Soviet space and the uncertain political disposition of Afghanistan.

Last month, this competition took a giant step forward when Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with the presidents of Turkmenistan and Pakistan, as well as with India's oil and gas minister, in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat. The meeting netted an agreement to begin construction of a new natural gas route known as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline in two years' time.

For the moment, Muhammad Ibrahim Makawi is still far from a household name. Outside of a small corpus of terrorism experts and national security specialists, few people are familiar with the Egyptian-born militant who is arguably al-Qaeda’s most dangerous operative. But they should be. Mounting evidence suggests that, after years of absence, Makawi—better known by his nom de guerre, Saif al-Adel (“sword of justice” in Arabic)—is back in action and spearheading a new stage in al-Qaeda’s war with the West.

Can sanctions stop Iran's nuclear drive? Since the passage of new U.S. and multilateral measures this summer, there have been unmistakable signs that Iran has begun to feel the economic pinch. Prompted by mounting international pressure, a slew of foreign multinationals have exited the Iranian market, while a range of countries - from South Korea to the United Arab Emirates - are in the process of curtailing their financial dealings with the Islamic republic.

But, despite these heartening signs, the ultimate success of sanctions depends on what could come after. In order for economic pressure to be taken seriously in Tehran, Iran's leaders must be convinced that their continued intransigence on the nuclear front will lead to something far worse.

For the moment, at least, they clearly are not. That is in large part because, despite repeated assurances from U.S. officials that "all options remain on the table" in dealing with the Iranian regime, Tehran has been permitted to wage not one but two irregular wars against America for more than half a decade and to do so with virtual impunity.

Pakistan plays a triple game...; As the U.S. scales back pressure on Islamabad; AQ takes a backseat in Afghanistan; Pentagon report touches on China-India conflict

Israel and Lebanon clash at the border; Arming the Saudis; Terror title shifts to South Asia; IMU leader Yuldashev dead

What do you call an ally that tries to kill you? That's the question most Americans are asking in the wake of last month's dissemination by Internet clearinghouse WikiLeaks of some 92,000 classified U.S. military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan. The files provide a sobering portrait of the true state of play on the War on Terror's first front. Far and away the most damaging disclosures, however, are those relating to the pernicious role being played by Pakistan, long regarded as a critical American ally in South Asia, in supporting and sustaining the anti-Western insurgency there.

New U.S. base in northern Afghanistan?; Pak cracks down on Punjabi Taliban, sort of; India considers beefing up border presence even more; Headley tells India ISI involved in Mumbai

India eases defense purchasing; Maoists get their wish, Nepal PM resigns; Afghanistan draws closer to Pakistan; Al Qaeda down to 500 or less; Controversial new media law in Pakistan

The new issue of Rolling Stone magazine has yet to hit newsstands, but its centerpiece - a devastating expose of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan - already has sent shockwaves through Washington. The article, copies of which already have found their way onto the Internet, paints an unflattering picture of a military commander at war with his own civilian leadership, replete with insults of sitting officials and serious charges of political malfeasance.

Since news of the piece leaked over the weekend, Gen. McChrystal has issued repeated public mea culpas and was forced to fly to Washington for an in-person dressing down by the president. The apologies were not enough; Wednesday afternoon, President Obama announced that he had relieved Gen. McChrystal of duty as commander of the Afghan theater.

Taliban turn to Tehran for training; Hezb-i-Islami makes an offer in Afghanistan; Assessment of Bangladesh militancy; Maoists up the stakes against New Delhi

The coup that swept the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan in early April caught almost everyone by surprise. The ouster of the country's strongman president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, after two days of rioting by opposition forces, likely at Russia's instigation, has fundamentally altered politics in the impoverished but strategically vital Central Asian state. In the process, it has called into question the stability of America's presence in the "post-Soviet space."

Nato courting Moscow for Afghan assistance; Pakistan's constitution gets a makeover; More hardware to Sino-Indian border; New intel satellite for India; Iran and Pakistan reach deal on "Peace Pipeline"

LeT in America's sight's; Maoists respond to Operation Green Hunt; CIA and ISI draw closer; In arms sales, U.S. doesn't discriminate

QDR supports expanded role for India; China's influence grows in Nepal at Tibetans expense; India launches major offensive against Maosists; Embracing the drone in Afghanistan

Change is afoot in Pakistan. Evidence was on display in early February, with the capture of the Afghan Taliban’s number two commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in a joint operation by the CIA and Pakistani intelligence. The arrest of Baradar, who had been operating with relative impunity in Pakistan for years, was met with elation in Washington, where officials have been fruitlessly pressing the Pakistanis to crack down on the Afghan Taliban since 2001.

A step forward for South Stream;
Russia's emptying schools

KARACHI MOVES INTO TALIBAN CROSSHAIRS; VIOLENCE RETURNS TO KASHMIR; IN NEPAL, MAOISTS PUSH THE ENVELOPE; AFGHAN INTEL FAILURES EXPOSED

Nepal's Maoists stand behind Naxalites; Afghan Taliban humbled; South Asian proliferation; IPI missing an "I"... for now

Pak: We want PEACE without the strings; Advanced U.S. aircraft to India; Indian embassy in Afghanistan struck for second time; Sri Lanka: civil war over but defense budget rising

How Iran sees Geneva; Obstructionism from Beijing; Reading the tea leaves in Riyadh; The Pasdaran in Afghanistan; Montazeri versus the IRI

What to do about Afghanistan? Ever since taking office in January, President Obama has received no shortage of advice about the proper way forward on the first front of America's struggle against radical Islam. Some have argued that Afghanistan is politically the same as Iraq — a war of choice in which America has little at stake, and even less idea of how to achieve victory — and counseled withdrawal. Others have acknowledged Afghanistan's strategic importance, while stressing that nothing more is required than simply relying on Coalition and NATO support to continue fighting an insurgency that is now in its seventh year. Still others have suggested that lightning can in effect strike twice, and the very same "surge" strategy adopted by the Bush administration in 2007 to deal with Iraq will reap dividends in Afghanistan as well.

Strengthening the U.S.-Japanese alliance;
Keeping AfPak on track

Carrots and sticks, North Korean style;
Sri Lanka's military presses its advantage

The long arm of Chechen politics;
Another energy move in Eastern Europe

Back in 2007, commentators were sounding the alarm that Pakistan was approaching a precipice. A lot has changed in two years. Pakistan’s problems then—protesters clogging the streets of Islamabad demanding President Musharraf’s resignation, and sporadic Taliban raids on coalition forces in Afghanistan—were but a glimpse of the danger ahead. No one could have imagined the speed and intensity with which the Taliban and their allies have since spread east from their sanctuary in the Hindu Kush mountains to threaten an invasion of the Pakistani capital.

Protesters torpedo ASEAN summit;
A bailout for Pakistan

Thailand-Cambodia tensions on the rise;
Pakistan pushes back (against Washington)

Afghan supply routes... through Iran?;
Solidarity with Manila

Murmansk goes against the grain;
A security pact with Abkhazia, South Ossetia

Missile fears in East Asia;
Carrots and sticks for the Taliban

The LTTE on the ropes;
Abu Sayyaf: back in action

A rising death toll in Afghanistan;
Islamabad cuts a deal with the Islamists

Gaming North Korea's future stability;
Karzai on the outs

The next Kim;
The Taliban does strategic communications

Indo-American missile defense talks inch forward;
The Afghan "surge" and the global economy