Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Pakistan's Afghan Triumph Carries Risks for Islamabad

Pakistan's Afghan Triumph Carries Risks for Islamabad

"Landi Kotal, Pakistan - May 9, 2006 - Two Pakistani men (on the left a Pakistani soldier) looking over the mountains at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The mountain in the background are in Afghanistan"

Tim Willasey-Wilsey is a former senior member of the British Foreign Office. He is currently a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London’s Department of War Studies.

When one looks at the proposed agreement between the United States and the Taliban due to be signed on 29th February there is one stand-out winner; Pakistan. Since 2001, Pakistan has played a high-stakes game but, whereas other players (notably NATO countries) have flip-flopped between policies, Pakistan has retained its strategic vision and held firm. However Islamabad (or rather Rawalpindi; because Afghan strategy is dictated by the Army) needs to be careful. If the next 2 or 3 years go badly in Kabul there could be serious implications for Pakistan’s own territorial integrity.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

Dead Drop: July 18

IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION: CIA’s existential threat might not be what you think it is, the CIA’s EXDIR is back in business, a warning to be careful of [...] More

Does the CIA Have a Trust Problem?

Does the CIA Have a Trust Problem?

In a recent opinion piece published in The Cipher Brief, former senior CIA Executive Mark Kelton suggests that the country’s leading intelligence [...] More

Expert Q&A: Putin Overplayed His Hand with Trump on Ukraine

EXPERT Q&A — President Donald Trump has offered a strong hand of support to Ukraine in recent days, pledging new weapons and threatening Russia with [...] More

Report for Thursday, July 17, 2025

9:03 America/New_York Thursday, July 17 [...] More

A Nuclear Day of the Jackal

BOOK REVIEW: The Moldavian GambitBy Brad Meslin / Manhattan Book GroupReviewed by: James LawlerThe Reviewer — James Lawler devoted more than half of [...] More

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Russia has been bombarding Ukrainian cities with massive aerial assaults, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged [...] More

Report for Wednesday, July 16, 2025

8:45 AM America/New_York Wednesday, July 16 [...] More

China Can Do More to Improve Relations with the U.S.

OPINION — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the ASEAN Summit. Rubio described the [...] More

Report for Tuesday, July 15, 2025

8:57 AM America/New_York Tuesday, July 15 [...] More