AP Photo

The trend towards violence and extremism in South Asia moved inexorably upwards in 2009. Afghanistan and Pakistan experienced major increases in terrorist incidents, often involving suicide bombings against high-profile urban targets including hotels frequented by foreign nationals and installations belonging to the security forces.

Although India did not have to endure a repeat of the November 2008 Mumbai attack, at least six major terrorist plots by Islamist extremist groups were thwarted by the Indian security authorities, probably with assistance from the United States. Meanwhile the Maoist Naxalite movement continued to consolidate its grip on the area of northeastern India that has become known as the "red corridor'. In Sri Lanka, the Tamil separatist movement Liberation...