Combating terrorists in Pakistan's borderlands has been hard enough, but an even greater threat would be if they are able to take over the country's most populous province, Punjab.

The growth of terrorist activity in Pakistan's Punjab Province could have serious consequences for Pakistan's stability, the war in Afghanistan, India-Pakistan relations, and international terrorism.

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.

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

Under increasing pressure from religious parties and the military and intelligence services, the Pakistan People's Party has lost the resolve to fight terrorism and promote democracy.

For Pakistan, founded as a homeland for all Indian Muslims, the Sunni-Shiite divide is an awkward subject that many would rather ignore. But the rest of the world needs to pay more attention to this conflict.

Combating terrorists in Pakistan's borderlands was hard enough, but now the Obama administration must take actions to prevent Pakistan from evading U.S. and international pressure to attack the terrorist cancer eating away at Punjab, the nation's must populated province.

If there is one success story since 9/11, it has been the efforts to combat terror finance. If military action is sometimes akin to conducting surgery with an axe, efforts to dry up sources of funding are like wielding a scalpel.