In Central and South Asia , we could now be heading for the end of the age of American surges , which in practical terms have manifested themselves as the urge to destabilize . Geopolitically , little could be uglier or riskier on our planet at the moment than destabilizing Pakistan -- or the United States . Three decades after the American urge to surge in Afghanistan helped destabilize one imperial superpower , the Soviet Union , the present plans , whatever they may turn out to be , could belatedly destabilize the other superpower of the Cold War era . And what our preeminent group of surgers welcomed as an " unprecedented strategic opportunity " as this century dawned may , in its later stages , be seen as an unprecedented act of strategic desperation .