I highly recommend this week's The Economist. Unfortunately, all the good stuff is restricted to "subscriber only" on-online.

This week features a very good Special Report on Afghanistan titled A Geographical Expression in Search of a State, that offers a balanced discussion of progress, failures and challenges. Couple that report with a longer (10 pages) survey of neighboring Pakistan, which The Economist calls "the most terrifying country in Asia", and it makes for an interesting read.