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Although many people can't find it on the map, Pakistan could easily be the next major threat to the United States and the Western world.
In the 1960s, there was a great deal of talk about the domino theory. The fear was that, if one country fell to communism, others would fall too, like a long line of dominoes. Many dismissed the idea-at least until South Vietnam fell, followed quickly by Cambodia and Laos.
Today the greatest threat to peace and security is radical Islam. It's been almost 30 years since its first major success, the Ayatollah Khomeini-led Iranian revolution and ousting of the shah in 1979.
In the same year the Soviet Union sent troops into neighboring Afghanistan with the intention of spreading atheistic communism. They stayed for 10 bloody years before their defeat by radical Islamists under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, who at that time was receiving arms and support from the United States. Following defeat in Afghanistan, the Soviet empire collapsed.
Afghanistan changes hands
The threat from radical Islam has, however, been growing. Afghanistan came under the control of the Taliban, strict Muslim fundamentalists who instituted Islamic sharia law. Allowing Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to stage the events of 9/11 from bases in Afghanistan inevitably led to the overthrow of the Taliban following the U.S. invasion of 2001.
But that does not mean they are gone-or that they no longer have the support of many of the Afghan people. Lately the Taliban has been staging a comeback in some areas, producing heavy losses among coalition forces.
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