At the NATO summit in Chicago, the much hoped-for deal between the United States and Pakistan to reopen NATO supply routes through Pakistan did not materialize. The experience of the closure and the negotiations has laid bare the changed relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani became a convicted felon last week, sparking loud cries from opposition leaders for his resignation. But what does his conviction really mean for Pakistani politics?

The leadership of the ISI is changing hands at a critical time for both the U.S. and Pakistan.

Despite grand announcements, gestures, and claims of reconciliation among warring Taliban factions, little is likely to change on the ground with respect to Taliban operations in Pakistan.

It will take brave politicians and a change in the way the US and others engage with Pakistan before the military's grip on the country is weakened

Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the most powerful Taliban commander in North Waziristan agency and an ally of the Haqqani Network, menaced recently that he would tear up a long-standing peace deal with the Pakistani military.The threat comes after the Pakistani military caused significant collateral damage when it retaliated against a militant attack on one of its positions.

Pakistani cricketing hero-turned politician Imran Khan made a splash on October 30 with a rally that attracted hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis. It remains to be seen whether his populist platform will bring the public to the ballot box in 2013.

Much as the Republican candidates (and, indeed, their incumbent opponent) might desire to wish away the problem of Pakistan, how to deal with the enigmatic nuclear state is likely to be one of their more enduring foreign policy burdens. (INCLUDES VIDEO)