Pakistan has played an important part in operations inside Afghanistan and hunting down and capturing Al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives taking sanctuary on its territory. But while the government continues to support the ‘war’ on terrorism, there has been a popular backlash to its pro-US policies, especially in the provinces adjoining Afghanistan, where the six-party religious Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance swept the polls last October.
Afghanistan and Pakistan: Arc of Instability
Afghanistan could either be one end of a growing arc of instability through the Middle East or an early example of gradual, democratic post-conflict nation building. Cross-border tribal loyalties and control of remote areas in Pakistan may well be decisive.
