Pakistan poses one of the most serious, and complicated, foreign policy challenges for the forty-fourth U.S. president.

India's growing economic and political influence in Afghanistan has angered Pakistan, the traditional power there, and has experts worried that Afghanistan could become another battleground in the long-standing rivalry between South Asia's two giants.

Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador in Washington, says his government views the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban as a national priority in spite of the doubts of some American officials. He also takes issue with the notion that Pakistan is close to bankruptcy.

Gary Samore, who was active in nuclear diplomacy with North Korea in the Clinton administration, says the latest agreement between the United States and North Korea is only a "very modest step forward" because it allows the next administration to proceed further in seeking a nuclear-disarmed North Korea.

The recent spate of terrorist attacks across Indian cities has highlighted long-simmering tensions inside India's multiethnic society, raising concerns about the country's stability.

The Bush administration is pushing an Iraq-like surge of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and pressing Pakistan to crack down on cross-border infiltrations. But Afghans say they are losing hope as poverty and unemployment spike.