ABSTRACT
The year 1986 saw the intensification of many trends already well under way in South Asia, In Afghanistan to the northwest the Soviets gained little ground against the Mujahiddin, despite the introduction of new strategies and new leaders. The reports also described a stiff US rejoinder to the Soviets, thus indicating some superpower divergence on nonproliferation strategies, at least as applied to South Asia. President Zia, more relaxed than most Pakistanis, noted that Brass Tacks involved an "unprecedented level" of concentration of forces for South Asia; he also speculated that such levels had "rarely" been seen in Europe and elsewhere. The regional state with the most critical internal problems remains Sri Lanka, which only four years ago had been South Asia's leading candidate as an economic and political success story. South Asia's second most populous state, Bangladesh, saw the lifting of martial law and the return of quasi-civilian government.
