Afghanistan

Remember Afghanistan? From 2006 to 2011, while Canadian troops in Kandahar were fighting Taliban insurgents, Afghanistan dominated debate about Canadian foreign and defence policy. In the years since, the political and security problems of the troubled Central Asian crossroads have mattered less directly to Canadians.

Taliban would not be able to mount attacks inside Afghanistan without the presence of their undisturbed sanctuaries inside Pakistan, top American experts have said.

"This (Taliban) offensive is enabled by sanctuaries in Pakistan," David Sedney, who earlier was a top Pentagon official for Afghanistan and Pakistan told the PBS in an interview released Sunday.

He's currently a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Why has security in Afghanistan deteriorated so much over the past year? Former Defense Department officials David Sedney and Barnett Rubin join Judy Woodruff to discuss.

Successive Afghan leaders have dreamed of turning their country into a "land bridge" or a "roundabout" of regional trade and cooperation.

Instead, their country -- metaphorically called "the heart of Asia" for its location at the center of Asia's landmass -- has attracted terrorists and covert wars clouding the country's future and raising questions over its very survival as a nation state.

A series of Chinese-financed infrastructure, energy, and transport projects has now raised hopes that the investments will help in establishing lasting peace in Afghanistan.