Pakistan - FATA, NWFP

The Raj in Waziristan

A warning on terror from Frontier Frank - Waziristan is America’s new front line in the war against the Taliban. The last British officer to have served there, now 81, tells it cannot be tamed by force alone , by Christina Lamb - The Times

Waziristan 1936-37 : The Problems of NWFP and their solutions - "The world is very old; we must profit by its experience. It teaches that old practices are often worth more than new theories." - Media Monitors Network

Waziristan 1936-1937 : The Problems of North-West Frontiers of India and their Solutions - by Lieut.-Colonel C. E. Bruce (book, 92 pages, pdf)

Tribal Areas

Pashtuns Say They Are Caught In Someone Else's War - But the Pashtun intelligentsia -- on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border -- say they want peace and are asking for a better understanding of the dynamics of their homeland , by Abubakar Siddique - RFE/RL

Pakistan’s tribal areas - A wild frontier - It will take more than American missiles to bring order to Pakistan’s north-western border region - Economist

How to Catch Osama - Get Some Intelligence - Seven years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden remains as elusive as ever. Most analysts believe the al Qaeda leader is hiding out in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. So, FP asked five Pakistani experts to tell us how to catch him , by Shuja Nawaz - Foreign Policy

Taliban opens new front in Pakistan - The Taliban has laid down the gauntlet to Pakistan's overstretched security forces by opening up a new front in the north of the country , by Isambard Wilkinson - Telegraph

Council Report Calls for New U.S.-Pakistan Partnership to Confront Militants in Tribal Areas -
The United States will need an adjusted, long-term commitment to Pakistan's tribal regions in order to bolster U.S. security and eliminate national and international terrorist networks - CFR

Securing Pakistan's Tribal Belt - Pakistan constitutes one of the most important and difficult challenges facing U.S. foreign policy , by Daniel Markey - CFR, Council Special Report

Pakistan’s Tribal Challenge - Antiquated laws and maladministration contribute to the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda , by Ziad Haider - Asia Sentinel

Pashtunistan

The Pashtun Question and Pakistan's Fears - It is believed that Pakistan’s Afghan policy is still guided by its fears about the Pashtun Question. But if it is so, using terrorism will hardly do. The two countries need to resolve the issue through negotiations , by Shahid Ilyas Khan - Media Monitors Network (September 2008)

‘Pashtunistan’: The Challenge to Pakistan and Afghanistan - The increasing co-operation between Pashtun nationalist and Islamist forces against Punjabi domination could lead to the break-up of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the emergence of a new national entity: an ‘Islamic Pashtunistan’ , by Selig S. Harrison - ARI (February 2008)

Beware Pashtunistan - ...All this has raised the specter that a breakaway "Pashtunistan" will emerge under Islamist leadership. Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, retired Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani—himself a Pashtun—warned of this last spring: "I hope the Taliban and Pashtun nationalism don't merge. If that happens, we've had it, and we're on the verge of that." ,
by Selig S. Harrison - Newsweek (November 2007)

The Pashtun time bomb - ...But another, more ominous reason also explains their success: their symbiotic relationship with a simmering Pashtun separatist movement that could lead to the unification of the estimated 41 million Pashtuns on both sides of the border, the breakup of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the emergence of a new national entity, "Pashtunistan," under radical Islamist leadership , by Selig S. Harrison - IHT (August 2007)