Month: March 2012

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Colombo, Geneva and Washington

Photo from flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/vikalpasl/6838061254/sizes/m/in/photostream/

At the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Sri Lankan and U.S. governments are facing off this week over a resolution that the U.S. has proposed but neither side wanted. Sri Lanka’s response to the events at the end of its toxic war – the subject of that resolution – has become the driving issue in Sri Lanka’s relations with the United States. The resolution may not have much impact on the reconciliation process that is so critical for Sri Lanka’s future. For the sake of Sri Lanka, the region and indeed Washington, it is important that reconciliation actually take place.

Read Teresita Schaffer’s article published in The Hindu March 22, 2012.

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U.S. Kashmir Policy in the Obama Administration and Beyond

Dal Lake, Kashmir. Photo by babasteve, http://www.flickr.com/photos/babasteve/43688615/

Neither India, nor Pakistan, nor the Kashmiris seem to understand the major change in the international community’s view of the Kashmir issue brought about by the introduction of nuclear weapons into South Asia. The specter of a catastrophic nuclear war between India and Pakistan has made regional peace and stability the primary goal the United States and other interested outside powers now pursue in Kashmir.

Read Howard Schaffer’s article published in the January 2012 issue of South Asia Journal.

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Resetting the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship

Parliament, Islamabad. Photo courtesy of flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigberto/3297096128/sizes/m/in/photostream/

2011 was a catastrophic year for U.S.-Pakistan relations. Starting with CIA contractor Ray Davis’s arrest for shooting two Pakistanis dead case in January, going on through the raid on Abbottabad in early May that killed Osama bin Laden, and culminating in the NATO forces lethal attack on a Pakistani border post in November 2011, a series of shocks shook this important partnership to its core. Both countries expect their future relationship to be more modest, but neither has defined this concept. As they grapple with this change, U.S. policymakers need to recognize that Pakistan, not Afghanistan, is the big issue, and to develop building blocks for a post-2014 relationship that meets the needs of both countries.

Read our article, published in foreignpolicy.com March 19, 2012.