New Priorities in South Asia: U.S. Policy Toward India, Pakistan and Afghanistan

by Frank G. Wisner, Nicholas Platt (Editor), Marshall M. Bouton (Editor)

South Asia may be halfway around the globe from the United States, but what happens there--as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, by al-Qaeda tragically underscored--can affect all Americans. The challenge to U.S. policy over the medium term is to design and implement a stable and sustained approach that will solidify bilateral ties with key countries in that region and give the United States an opportunity to influence major regional developments. The Chairmen's Report of an Independent Task Force on New Priorities in South Asia assesses the strengths and weaknesses of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and recommends how U.S. policy can best take advantage of the opportunities while addressing the dagers that are present. The report urges new initiatives to solidify the partnership with an economically and militarily stronger India; carefully calibrated support for pakistan in its efforts to become a moderate Muslim state; a more active, facilitative U.S. role in the volatile Kashmir conflict; a new framework for--and a close watch on--proliferation issues in the region; and redoubled support for the Hamid Karzai government's security initiatives in Afghanistan. The Task Force--chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to India Frank G. Wisner II, former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Nicholas Platt, and President of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Marshall M. Bouton--benefited from the expertise of more than fifty members with a wide range of expertise in government, business and finance, the law, and academe.

109 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 2003

About the author

Frank George Wisner II was an American businessman and diplomat who served as United States Secretary of State following the resignation of the previous acting United States Secretary of State Arnold Kanter at noon on January 20, 1993 until the confirmation by the United States Senate and swearing in of Warren Christopher as United States Secretary of State later that day. He was the son of CIA official Frank Wisner (1909–1965). On January 31, 2011, he was sent to Egypt by President Barack Obama to negotiate a resolution to the popular protests against the regime that had swept the country. A White House spokesman said that Wisner had vast experience in the region as well as close relationships with many Egyptians in and out of government. The New York Times reported that he was a personal friend of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Wisner worked as an international-affairs advisor at the firm of Squire Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C.