India and Pakistan: the World's most Dangerous Border

The late Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration's envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, had many virtues as a diplomat, but tact was not among them. His description of his theatre of operations as 'AfPak' infuriated the Pakistans, who wanted the Americans to regard their country as a sophisticated, powerful ally worthy of attention in itself, not just as a suffix to the deuding tribesmen next door.