The region encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan (Af/Pak region) is undergoing a fundamental strategic change. This book analyses the nature of this strategic change, in ordre to seek possible future scenarios and to examine policy options. It also undertakes a critical review of the basic elements of the Western strategic approach towards dealing with regional conflicts in all parts of the world, with special emphasis on the Af/Pak region. Dealing with the political developments i one of the most volatile regions in the world - Afghanistan and Pakistan - the volume focuses on Western strategic concerns. The withdrawal of ISAF by 2014 will change the overall political setting and the work addresses the challenges that will result for Western policymakers thereafter. It examines the cases of Afghanistan and Pakistan separately, and also looks at the broader region and tries to identify different outcomes. This book will be of much interest to students of Central and South Asian politics, strategic studies, foreign policy and security studies generally.

The region encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan (Af/Pak region) is undergoing a fundamental strategic change. This book analyses the nature of this strategic change, in ordre to seek possible future scenarios and to examine policy options. It also undertakes a critical review of the basic elements of the Western strategic approach towards dealing with regional conflicts in all parts of the world, with special emphasis on the Af/Pak region. Dealing with the political developments i one of the most volatile regions in the world - Afghanistan and Pakistan - the volume focuses on Western strategic concerns. The withdrawal of ISAF by 2014 will change the overall political setting and the work addresses the challenges that will result for Western policymakers thereafter. It examines the cases of Afghanistan and Pakistan separately, and also looks at the broader region and tries to identify different outcomes. This book will be of much interest to students of Central and South Asian politics, strategic studies, foreign policy and security studies generally.

Post-conflict related efforts by the international community, towards state (re)building and the reconstruction of a society and its economy, have become more or less a regular feature of international affairs since the early 1990s. It seems that the demand for such international efforts is rising rather than diminishing. All have in common that the establishment of sound state structures and livable economies in a given state are considered by a sizeable and powerful group of states as something that is furthering international peace and stability. This book addresses the strategic and policy dimensions of these international state building and reconstruction efforts. The chapters take up issues relating to the economic, security-related, and institutional aspects. Table of Contents include: Lessons Unlearned: Why Most International Reconstruction Efforts in the Past Have Failed Measuring Progress in International State Building and Reconstruction Creating Market Economies in Post-Conflict Societies Paradoxes and Dilemmas of Democratization and State Building in War-Torn Countries Establishing Security in Conflict-Ridden Societies Fighting Insurgencies and Terrorists in Post-Conflict Situations Peace Operations and Peace Building in the Transatlantic Dialogue and The Future of International State Building and Reconstruction Efforts.