Last week, terrorists struck in a series of coordinated attacks across the city of Mumbai, India's commercial capital, leaving nearly 200 dead. The attack and the unimpressive response by domestic security forces has led to anger and confusion among Indians. It has also reopened long-simmering tensions with Pakistan, which many Indians suspect supported the attackers — something that Islamabad denies. In a 2002 article in Foreign Affairs, former U.S. ambassador Dennis Kux examined India's response to the growing threat of sectarian terror, among other challenges. In a 2006 article, meanwhile, Sumit Ganguly analyzed the standoff between India and Pakistan and suggested a role for the United States in resolving it.

• Full text of Kux's essay (May/June 2002)
• Full text of Ganguly's essay (July/August 2006)

Previously in Background on the News

Friedman or Keynes?
November 19, 2008
This past weekend, the leaders of the G-20 countries met in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to revive the struggling global economy. The group set out guidelines for greater market controls, including international coordination on supervision of banks and other financial institutions. But they deferred consideration of an even larger question, the future of global financial regulation, to the group's next meeting in April. As the crisis continues to unfold, it has opened up an old fissure in economic policy, between those who worship free markets and those who argue for more government intervention. . . . Read more

The President
November 5, 2008
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will take office with the responsibility for guiding the country through economic crisis at home and military conflict abroad. . . . Read more

Pirates of the Arabian
October 8, 2008
On September 25, a band of pirates hijacked a Ukrainian vessel laden with arms off the coast of Somalia. As the U.S. Navy surrounded the ship and Russian warships steamed south, the pirates demanded a ransom of $20 million to release the treasure on board: dozens of Soviet T-72 tanks, grenade launchers, and anti-aircraft guns. Attacks on commercial vessels have become commonplace along Somalia's lawless coast, but the seizure of the MV Faina upped the ante . . . Read more

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