world news  Pakistan identified as biggest foreign policy test
A Pakistani soldier fires toward militant positions Pakistani
soldiers target militant positions in the tribal region, an
increasing threat to the country's new and fragile democracy.
Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP  Washington's newly appointed
special envoy is due to arrive in Islamabad today, as Barack
Obama's administration tackles what may turn out to be its
greatest foreign policy challenge: a nuclear-armed country
hurtling towards chaos.  According to Obama's aides, Pakistan is
the nation that really "scares" him. The country is threatened
by a growing Islamist insurgency, economic collapse and a crisis
of governance as it struggles to establish democratic rule. The
Obama administration believes Pakistan is key to its objectives
of pacifying Afghanistan and going after al-Qaida and has
appointed a pugnacious diplomatic troubleshooter, Richard
Holbrooke, as a special representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan.  "We often call this situatio