"UK policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan: the way forward"

Excerpt from an earlier post:

...[the paper is here, good maps at end; would be nice to see something similar from our government--good luck]...

Note how the paper starts--not the sort of thing our government highlights often:

Part A: Context

Why Afghanistan and Pakistan matter

Afghanistan and Pakistan are of critical strategic importance to the UK and the international community as a whole. Instability and insecurity in both countries have a direct impact on our national security and the safety of our citizens. Of the six major sources of threat set out in the UK’s National Security Strategy, Afghanistan and Pakistan are relevant to at least four:

• terrorism – Afghanistan was the base for Al Qaida’s terrorist activity, including the largest ever terrorist atrocity of 11 September 2001; Al Qaida’s senior leadership is currently located in the border areas of Pakistan, and three quarters of the most serious plots investigated in the UK have links back to Pakistan;

• conflict – the insurgency in Afghanistan and insecurity in Pakistan have an impact on regional instability which affects the UK’s interests, not least given our deep connections with the region and the large British Pakistani community;

• transnational crime – Afghanistan is the source of 90% of the heroin in the UK, and we estimate that roughly half is smuggled via Pakistan;

• weapons of mass destruction – Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state. Its proper control of its weapons and nuclear material, and the prevention of proliferation to other countries or non-state actors, is vital to our interests.

...

Update: I've just read the whole paper. It is, shockingly, a government document that I would urge you most strongly to take the time to read. It gives a much fuller and detailed overview of things than anything I've seen in the media. It is a paper that, er, respects the reader's intelligence. Amazing. Every bloody Canadian MP and senator, and pundit, should read it. If ten do I shall be gobsmacked. We are, sadly, not a serious country in certain quarters.

I would bet that the Assessments Staff in the UK Cabinet Office (all source intelligence analysis for government as a whole, see p. 24 here,) drafted Part A; the Canadian equivalent, modelled on the British, is the International Assessment Staff in the Privy Council Office.

Upperdate: It is, by the way, a nonsense that the expenses of Executive Director, International Assessment Staff, Privy Council Office (see Friday, September 28...3:00 here), have been posted on the Internet.