Kristof on "The Pakinstan Test"

I read Nicholas Kristof’s column, “The Pakistan Test”, on my outbound Thanksgiving travels and had made a note to write about it in my blog once I got home. However, the events in Mumbai over the last 48 hours have made this column even more significant and timely. Please take a moment to read it.

Some points to note are:

• Pakistan is in a state of slow collapse;
• It has up to 60 nuclear weapons;
• The influence of the Taliban seems to be growing there;
• Our air strikes may be galvanizing public opinion behind the Taliban;
• Pakistan and Afghanistan are linked.

Kristof goes on to describe 4 steps that the international community should pursue to help resolve the problems that are helping to destabilize the region. I think they make sense and are worthy of us exploring.

Unless we educate ourselves and provide informed perspective to our leaders, will they come to the right decisions? I believe we should consider Kristof’s argument and let’s get ahead of the issue before it becomes a crisis.

Also, be sure to check out the Developments in Literacy page to which he links.