A group of senior non-official American and Russian policy analysts recently spent a long, intense day comparing notes on Afghanistan and Pakistan, part of a longer meeting on U.S.-Russia relations. Both countries' analysts started with some important common concerns. Primary among them was their hope that Afghanistan would emerge as a stable country, able to develop economically and to govern itself effectively. Containing Islamic radicalism and preventing it from radiating outward from Afghanistan and Pakistan was on both countries' radar screen; so too was the problem of narcotics trafficking through Central Asia.
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