The mere existence of nuclear weapons poses an impending “black swan”—a rare unpredictable event beyond the realm of normal expectations with the potential to create a major impact. ((The term “black swan event” can be credited to Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2007 book, The Black Swan. The term black swan derives from the seventeenth [...]

Amid growing concerns surrounding the international financial crisis and Iran and North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, a looming global upheaval is being placed on the back burner. The increasing instability in Pakistan is a serious problem, and one that potentially has global consequences. According to Hassan Abbas, Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, “there [...]

Pakistan strongman Pervez Musharraf’s decision yesterday to postpone parliamentary elections for six weeks in the wake of the murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto last month is certainly controversial, but at least it gives the United States and other democratic friends and allies of Pakistan in the developed and developing world a chance to ensure [...]