This timely study surveys the conflict in Afghanistan from Pakistan's point of view and analyzes the roots of Pakistan's ambiguous policy--supporting the United States on one hand and showing empathy for the Afghan Taliban on the other. The author, a former foreign secretary of Pakistan, considers a broad range of events and interweaves his own experiences and perspectives into the larger narrative of the Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship.

Beginning with the 1989 departure of Soviet troops--and especially since the 2001 NATO invasion--Riaz Mohammad Khan examines the development of...