Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) failure to hold territory, maintain central leadership, and win mass appeal suggests that it may enter a "death spiral" of anarchist violence that reduces its support and draws it even closer to al Qaeda and other militant Islamist groups in Pakistan.

The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan is now an officially designated terrorist organization, a status that will make it easier to prosecute individuals involved with the organization.

In a webcast on Friday, May 7, at 1:00 p.m., Frederick W. Kagan, AEI resident scholar and director of the Critical Threats Project, and the Critical Threats Project team will discuss the Times Square attack and the Pakistani Taliban.

An operational link between the Times Square attack and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan has been murky following the May 1 bomb attempt. New evidence has emerged and clarified the relationship.

The latest spate of violent incidents in Afghanistan is set to increase pressure in America and Europe for a quicker end to the mission in the country.

Pakistan's floods have worsened well beyond the capacity of the government to react and the Taliban and Islamist extremists are aiming to capitalize on the publicity that the relief effort is receiving.

The tribesmen's long-delayed return to Waziristan is significant because their successful resettlement will do more to re-establish stability and deny the Taliban a safe haven in the agency than any military operation could.

In the latest International Economics Outlook, AEI trade expert Claude Barfield assesses the progress of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and the substantive and structural issues that have emerged during the negotiations.