On September 14, 2010, the New America Foundation hosted Shuja Nawaz and Michael Waltz along with Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative Director Peter Bergen, in a panel that assessed threats emanating from Afghanistan. Foreign Policy Magazine editor Susan Glasser moderated the panel. Each participant offered diverse perspectives, as the Pakistani and American viewpoints were explored in opening statements and discussion.

Comments made by Waltz and Bergen overlapped: both suggested al Qaeda remains a significant threat to the United States and that success in Afghanistan will enhance American security. Nawaz provided analysis on anxieties within Pakistan and the changing viewpoints of its military leadership, as well as an overview of the social and economic factors which enabled the Pakistani Taliban’s rise. The discussion revealed some degree of optimism, as the speakers suggested the strategic considerations of Washington and Islamabad are slowly converging, though they remain miles apart.