How can and should the Obama Administration work with Pakistan in helping reduce the threat of international terrorism?
Burns: Well, Pakistan’s going to be a key country for the success or failure of United States foreign policy in South Asia. South Asia is now a region of the world that is without any question vital to the United States. We wouldn’t have said that 10 or 15 years ago. It is now because of the unstable nature of the Pakistani government and because of the fact that both the Taliban and al-Qaeda enjoy safety havens, unfortunately, inside Pakistan and because of Afghanistan itself. And so Pakistan has become perhaps the key problem country for United States foreign policy in 2009 and 2010. Here is a new government, civilian led, but very weak and unstable in a country that has nuclear weapons and in a country that does have the two most vicious terrorist groups opposite the United States on its soil. The stakes are very, very high, and obviously President Obama and his team are going to have to be able to work well with Pakistan, because Pakistan is a friend, and try to support the Pakista
