New Pakistan President Faces Daunting Challenges | Newsweek International

Pakistan’s Anger
Eleanor Clift 5/22/2009 12:00:00 AM
I was told that the five female members from the Pakistani Parliament visiting Washington this week were interested in women and politics in America, and so I was unprepared for their real agenda, which was to tell the media how disappointed they are that President Obama has adopted his predecessor's policies when it comes to Pakistan. They shouldn't have been surprised. Obama said during the campaign that he would fight the Afghanistan war harder. The escalation impacts the Pakistani side of the border, which serves as a sanctuary for Al Qaeda, and is likely where Osama bin may someday be found.
Fickle Friends in the War On Terror
Jonathan Tepperman 5/16/2009 12:00:00 AM
Barack Obama came to office promising to work with allies in the war on terror. But recent events are proving that's easier said than done: on three critical fronts, America's partners are proving unable—or unwilling—to help. Consider: last month Obama visited Iraq, from which he's promised to withdraw all U.S. troops by 2011. In Baghdad, the president urged Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to improve security and reach out to Iraq's Sunni minority (both key prerequisites to an American pullout). Maliki, however, is "feeling his oats" as his strength grows and the U.S. departure approaches, says Brookings Institution expert Michael O'Hanlon. That's making Maliki less accommodating to Sunnis and other minorities, delaying oil-sharing deals and plans to assimilate ex-insurgents into the Army. The result? A new wave of suicide bombings and gunfights between militants and government forces.
VIEWPOINT
E Pluribis Islam?
Irshad Manji 4/30/2009 12:00:00 AM
At a recent event in India, I asked Pakistan's former president, Pervez Musharraf, whether he would support his country's tireless human-rights activists. He invited me to pose a different question. I didn't.
INTERVIEW
Zardari: 'I Am a Victim Here'
Lally Weymouth 12/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan is in the hot seat. Under pressure from the international community, he ordered police last week to crack down on Jamaat-ul-Dawa, a charity thought to be the public front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani terrorist group that India blames for the Thanksgiving attacks in Mumbai. President Zardari spoke with NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth just before the Jamaat arrests. Excerpts:
Mail Call: Russia’s Power Play
10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM
I agree with Clifford G. Gaddy's Sept. 1 essay, "How Not to Punish Moscow." Gaddy writes, "It appears that Russia will have its way with Georgia and that the West is powerless to do anything about it." Remember that Georgia was part of the Soviet Union. Although it gained independence, as far as Russia is concerned Georgia remains a vassal state. Russia will not tolerate positioning of weapons of destruction in its vassal states under the guise of NATO or other security arrangements with the West. What Russia did to Georgia is reminiscent of America's quarantine of Cuba when the Soviet Union placed missiles there. Thus, Russia feels justified in teaching a lesson to Georgia—a country viewed as too pro-America and beginning to feel that its independence is a license to test Russia's patience. Vladimir Putin is no ordinary leader. Being an ex-KGB man and proud of his Russian blood, he's prepared to go all the way to redeem Russia's pride after the unexpected loss of rich territories that have become nation-states in their own right. Georgia learned a lesson in ethnic politics. When Putin gave the order to invade Georgia, it was done with careful calculation. It will not be in America's or NATO's interest to retaliate militarily unless they are prepared for Armageddon. Russia is not Iraq, and Putin is not Saddam Hussein. The United States and NATO should not pour salt over wounds by making disparaging remarks, but must endeavor to look at the issue from a wider perspective in the name of peace, love and humanity.Hassan Bin TalibSelangor, Malaysia
International
Can Pakistan Stay Afloat?
Fasih Ahmed 10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM
This time it wasn't the terrorist scare making Pakistanis nervous. Depositors thronged banks over the last few days to retrieve cash and valuables. Rumors that the government was on the verge of seizing bank lockers and foreign-currency accounts to rescue its deteriorating financial positions had been popping up on cell phones. They were finally laid to rest on Wednesday by Pakistan's newly appointed finance minister, Shaukat Tareen. A well-respected former banker who is not a member of Parliament, he is the third person to head the ministry since government formation in March, and his appointment is intended to signal President Asif Ali Zardari and his government's seriousness about setting the economy straight.