Central Asia

A Thousand Points of Light

When it comes to bringing electricity to the developing world, small is beautiful.

BY CHARLES KENNY | JULY 11, 2011

Lift One from the Gipper

Tim Pawlenty has the Reaganite foreign policy talking points down, but do they add up to anything?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JULY 1, 2011

The Road Home from Kabul

Drawing down troops from Afghanistan is the right move. Now it's time to focus on the real threat in the neighborhood: the one coming from Pakistan.

BY JOHN KERRY | JUNE 24, 2011

Let's Make a Deal

The United States and the Taliban should be able to work out a compromise on Afghanistan. But will the Afghans be able to live with it?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JUNE 24, 2011

Postcards from Hell, 2011

Images from the world's most failed states.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JUNE 20, 2011

Everything You Think You Know About the Collapse of the Soviet Union Is Wrong

*And why it matters today in a new age of revolution.

BY LEON ARON | JULY/AUGUST 2011

Country First

After a turbulent decade abroad, the Republican Party turns inward.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JUNE 17, 2011

The Five Habits of Highly Effective Terrorist Organizations

Management lessons for al Qaeda’s new boss.

BY DANIEL BYMAN | JUNE 16, 2011

The Drawdown Debate

Jon Huntsman may have been a no-show at the first 2012 GOP debate, but his comments about the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan made the most news. FP asked three Afghanistan experts to weigh in.

JUNE 16, 2011

Billions for Missile Defense, Not a Dime for Common Sense

At a time of tight budgets, doubling down on a risky, easily foiled technology is more foolish than ever.

BY YOUSAF BUTT | JUNE 10, 2011

Paradise Lost

Scratching out a living in the snows and slums of Mongolia.

JUNE 9, 2011

A One-Man Insurgency

How a young Afghan went from policeman to murderer to saint.

BY ANNA BADKHEN | MAY 27, 2011

A Groom's Tale

In rural Afghanistan, girls aren't the only ones getting married too young.

BY ANNA BADKHEN | MAY 19, 2011

The New Face of al Qaeda?

The Yemeni-American firebrand preacher, Anwar al-Awlaki, won't replace Osama bin Laden as al Qaeda's No. 1 -- but Washington should be worried about his increasing prominence.

BY CHRISTOPHER BOUCEK | MAY 18, 2011

Leaving With Honor

After Osama bin Laden's death, Afghanistan looks more like Vietnam than ever -- and for once, that's a good thing.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 16, 2011

The Few, the Proud, the Unready

Can Afghanistan's army stand on its own?

MAY 10, 2011

Putin's Puppets

How do you win a Russian election? First, invent a coalition.

BY JULIA IOFFE | MAY 6, 2011

Freedom From Fear

Now that he's accomplished the central aim of George W. Bush's foreign policy, Barack Obama can finally get started on his own.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 5, 2011

Think Again: Al Qaeda

The world's most notorious terrorist organization was never quite what Americans thought it was -- and Osama bin Laden's death doesn't mean that it's down for the count.

BY DANIEL BYMAN | MAY 3, 2011

The Lies They Tell Us

Can the Pakistani government's web of deceit survive the death of Osama bin Laden?

BY MOSHARRAF ZAIDI | MAY 2, 2011

The Prisoners' Dilemma

Does WikiLeaks' newest document dump tell us anything we don't know about Guantánamo, or is it just another reminder that the United States' least worst place is now its most intractable legal problem? FP asked four experts on military law and interrogation to weigh in on the Gitmo papers.

APRIL 25, 2011

Russia's Crime of the Century

How crooked officials pulled off a massive scam, spent millions on Dubai real estate, and killed my partner when he tried to expose them.

BY JAMISON FIRESTONE | APRIL 20, 2011

Failing Grades

The real schools of Afghanistan and Pakistan look nothing like the fantasy peddled by Greg Mortenson.

APRIL 19, 2011

Cup Half-Empty

Why we all wanted to believe what Greg Mortenson was selling.

BY MOSHARRAF ZAIDI | APRIL 19, 2011

Two to Tango

David Miliband has a plan for bringing both sides to the negotiating table in Afghanistan. But getting the Taliban to show up won't be easy.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | APRIL 13, 2011

Think Again: The Afghan Drug Trade

Why cracking down on Afghanistan's opium business won't help stop the Taliban -- or the United States' own drug problems.

BY JONATHAN P. CAULKINS, JONATHAN D. KULICK, AND MARK A.R. KLEIMAN | APRIL 1, 2011

Cold and Violent

In the first installment of a regular weekly dispatch, Anna Badkhen returns to Northern Afghanistan to find a freezing, chaotic place.

BY ANNA BADKHEN | MARCH 9, 2011

A Return to Hell in Swat

The Pakistani Army -- and Gen. David Petraeus -- treated the counterinsurgency effort in the Swat Valley as a monumental success. A year later, things on the ground look quite a bit different.

BY TARA MCKELVEY | MARCH 2, 2011

The Islamic Republic of Talibanistan

Why the West should stop fighting with the Taliban for hearts and minds, and start letting the Islamists try their hand at governing.

BY SALEEM H. ALI | FEBRUARY 25, 2011

Obama Is Helping Iran

How Washington's awkward handling of Middle East uprisings is playing into the hands of the Islamic Republic.

BY FLYNT AND HILLARY MANN LEVERETT | FEBRUARY 23, 2011