Internal and external security threats are linked, of course.

But internal cohesion can only be accentuated by missteps in Afghanistan or in dealings with India. In Pakistan, internal security is of paramount importance, as Gen Kayani repeatedly says. o the outside world, Pakistan!s efforts in this regard are o"ershadowed by those who use its soil to carry out "iolent acts across borders. It!s hard to recognise mistakes, and e"en harder to engineer course corrections. here is good reason to suspect that Afghanistan is too fractious a place for ambitious state# building. A grand Afghan political settlement is likely to remain ephemeral or illusi"e. $amiliar di"ides will reappear because they ha"e ne"er gone away. %hate"er chips Pakistan!s national security managers might try to play in an Afghan settlement ha"e not rewarded Pakistan in the past, and are unlikely to help Pakistan find a brighter future. wo generations of Pakistani strategic analysts ha"e held the mirage that Afghanistan pro"ides strategic depth, when the re"erse has pro"en to be true. Pakistan has been destabilised by its own and by &'. misad"entures in Afghanistan, and could be destabilised further if India gains a foothold there to use as a staging ground to support disaffection in Balochistan. A role re"ersal of this kind, mirroring India!s decades#long misfortunes in Kashmir, could only multiply Pakistan!s domestic woes. A political settlement, if one can be found, will ha"e to tackle this issue which, in turn, re(uires impro"ed ties between Pakistan and India. )awa* 'harif has great sympathy and support in %ashington. he +bama administration will continue to pro"ide assistance to tackle Pakistan!s economic, energy and internal security woes. $irst impressions in %ashington, as in Pakistan, suggest a man hobbled by the immensity of his country!s problems and the obstacles that others so easily place in his path. ,ast month, at the margins of &) General Assembly speechmaking, he and Indian Prime -inister -anmohan 'ingh promised to (uiet exchanges of fire across the Kashmir di"ide. hese flares appear to outsiders as contri"ed to pre"ent )awa* from pursuing what he so clearly wants . impro"ed relations and greater direct trade with India. As long as firing across the Kashmir di"ide continues, it suggests opposition to this agenda, which is critical to Pakistan!s well#being. -ore difficult, by orders of magnitude, will be taking action against extremists that are dri"ing up Pakistan!s death toll. ,ea"ing aside countries like 'yria which are in the throes of a ci"il war, Pakistan now ranks abo"e Afghanistan, and second only to Ira(, in fatalities due to sectarian "iolence. The writer is co-founder of the Stimson Centre in Washington.