In any case, the first week has been mostly devoted to getting the lay of the land and boning up on current policy debates. The major kerfuffle at the moment seems to be an internecine media squabble over a controversial piece in a right-leaning newspaper. Here’s my take, cross-posted from the Pulitzer Center’s Untold Stories:

…a story in the Nation suggesting that Wall Street Journal South Asia correspondent Matthew Rosenberg is a spy for both the CIA and Mossad.

The story has unleashed a firestorm and a petition signed by a host of international media outlets condemning the piece, and resulted in Dr. Mazari appearing for an interview on the leading liberal TV station, Dawn News, where Mazari repeatedly pointed out that Rosenberg is Delhi-based (though did not elaborate on the significance of that detail) and where she also pointed out the international press has not rallied to the cause of Pakistani journalists who have been threatened. Since then, most of the local Urdu-language press has rallied behind the Nation and Mazari has continued to publish along these lines. It doesn’t look like this issue is going anywhere anytime soon.

Factual concerns and journalistic implications aside, what is important for American Pakistan-watchers to note is the currency that the argument about an Indian-Israeli-American conspiracy has among locals.

Read the whole post, and watch the interview here.