All In:  The Education of General David Petraeus.  By Paula Broadwell with Vernon Loeb. The Penguin Press, 2012, 394pp. $29.99. Writing a first book is challenging in its own right, much less doing so as events unfold.  In All In, The Education of General David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell chose to add a third hurdle:  writing [...]

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WASHINGTON — The discovery that Osama bin Laden had been sheltered for years within sight of core Pakistani military and security installations has refocused attention on the existential questions of both Pakistan itself and its relationship to the transatlantic alliance. Is Pakistan an ally or an adversary of the West? The answer, as with so [...]

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WASHINGTON – Al Qaeda’s attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, precipitated an unprecedented level of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. With Afghanistan beset by a resurgent Taliban, and Pakistan increasingly unstable, the United States subsequently doubled down in this troubled region even as the Asia-Pacific became the locus of global [...]

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WASHINGTON — Two years into the Obama administration, initially high expectations about the future of the transatlantic relationship have given way to growing pessimism. NATO is part of this narrative.  There is a widespread consensus that the Nov. 19-20 NATO Lisbon Summit will leave many issues unresolved. Among other things, the shadow of Afghanistan is [...]

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WASHINGTON — My GMF colleague Dhruva Jaishankar gave us this week a convincing explanation of the conditions and events in Pakistan behind recent reports of new terror threats in Europe. The events and attitudes he describes bear directly on the safety and lives of Europeans and Americans, perhaps to a greater degree than any other external [...]

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WASHINGTON — In recent days, the world’s attention has turned once again to the terrorist threat emanating from Pakistan. Last week, the American and British governments issued heightened travel alerts for continental Europe following revelations of an extremist plot hatched in Waziristan. The operationalization of this plot, which reportedly involved coordinated raids on European cities [...]

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The recent leak of classified reports disclosing sensitive information about the military engagement in Afghanistan has once again put Pakistan in the spotlight. While simultaneously suffering from one of the worst floods in recent history, Pakistan is finding itself in a very difficult position. The more than 90,000 documents released by WikiLeaks last month strengthen [...]

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BEIJING – The 798 Art District, a trendy artists’ neighborhood on Beijing’s outskirts, far removed from the resplendence of the Great Wall and Forbidden City, offers visitors some curious insights into contemporary China.   In the middle of a central plaza, an installation depicts a lone swordsman defending himself against an encircling pack of large, [...]

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