Petraeus's proposed Afghan militias risk restoring the conditions that led Afghanistan to civil war in the 1990s. This, the Kabul conference and other initiatives have no hope unless civilian command of the military mission in Afghanistan is asserted, argues Carlo Ungaro.

The Afghan war is at a critical stage. A longer term view of its three dimensions - regional, ethnic, and religious - offers some vital lessons to policy-makers, says Valey Arya.

By Zainab Mahmood

There goes my love of Belgian truffles, or a chance to walk down the Champs Elysees again or patronise my favourite seafood restaurant in the suburbs of Lyon with my mother, who incidentally wears the niqab. Considering we the misguided masses turned on Danish butter, Portuguese chicken and a Norwegian mobile company when the infamous caricature incident took place, one can only wonder if Pakistan will declare a fatwa on French fries in light of the French government’s stance on the ‘burqa’.

By Anwar Akhtar

The most telling line in the Guardian's report on Birmingham council's decision to halt its controversial surveillance of Muslim areas came at the end: "Police sources said the initiative was the first of its kind in the UK that sought to monitor a population seen as being 'at risk' of extremism."