Pakistan has deadliest year in decade as Taliban ties worsen
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
Mainstream coverage treats Pakistan’s surge in violence as a sad regional storyline, as if it exists in a sealed compartment. It rarely asks the harder question: what happens when a nuclear-armed state loses control of its borderlands while militants gain confidence and sanctuary. The framing also leans on “deteriorating relations” like it is diplomatic weather.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Pakistan recorded its deadliest year of violence in a decade, with gunfights, airstrikes, and suicide bombings marking much of 2025, as relations with neighboring Afghanistan deteriorated.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Mainstream coverage treats Pakistan’s surge in violence as a sad regional storyline, as if it exists in a sealed compartment. It rarely asks the harder question: what happens when a nuclear-armed state loses control of its borderlands while militants gain confidence and sanctuary.
The framing also leans on “deteriorating relations” like it is diplomatic weather. The real issue is state capacity and cross-border safe havens. When the Taliban’s ties with Pakistani militants harden, the risk is not just Pakistan’s internal stability. It is national security spillover into migration flows, terror plotting, and a wider legitimacy crisis.
A serious response starts with public trust and rule of law, not blank-check aid or lectures. America should prioritize accountability for partners, targeted counterterror cooperation, and hard boundaries on any arrangement that rewards extremists. The principle is simple: stability is earned by institutions that can enforce it.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.