Afghanistan's tensions with Pakistan are accelerating engagement between Kabul and other regional states, but the benefits from expanded ties will remain limited by enduring disputes, logistical constraints, security threats to major infrastructure projects and Islamabad's potential absence from future multilateral engagements. Recent deadly militant attacks in northwest Pakistan -- including one on May 9 that targeted police personnel and one on May 12 that targeted a local market -- exacerbated tensions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border months after the neighbors' current conflict over alleged cross-border militancy erupted on Feb. 21. Clashes have eased since the conflict's early weeks, when Pakistan's air force struck various Afghan cities for days, but sporadic clashes and periodic flare-ups -- like that reported on May 4, when the Afghan Taliban accused Pakistan of striking two schools, two mosques and a health center -- have continued. While the most direct consequences of these clashes have been cross-border...
