Publication

This report analyzes the situation in the Pashtun-majority Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. It states that the Musharraf government’s appeasement of Taliban sympathizers has resulted in a base in Pakistan’s tribal areas that militants are using to stoke instability both at home and in neighboring Afghanistan. The paper examines interlinked issues of governance, militancy and extremism, and identifies the challenges the government faces in wresting control of these areas and the stakes for the US and other Western countries.