The Chicago chance
As the United States mobilises support from its NATO allies to shore up the government in Afghanistan at a summit in Chicago, Washington’s real challenge lies in altering the strategic calculus of the Pakistan army and compelling it to stop promoting the Taliban and other enemies of Kabul. Notwithstanding the recent thaw in US-Pak relations — marked by Islamabad’s decision to reopen the overland transit facilities for delivering supplies to the international forces in Afghanistan and NATO’s invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari to attend the Chicago summit — the contradiction between the interests of the international community and Pakistan in Afghanistan remains to be resolved.