Over the weekend, there were 24 Pakistani troops killed as the result of NATO bombings. It is not all that well known that the U.S. government is at war with Pakistan, at least in a sense. While the governments get along to a certain extent, the U.S. government has been bombing Pakistan and killing innocent people for a while now. While it isn't an outright occupation like we see in Afghanistan, it does tend to irritate the people living there.
Many of the facts of what happened over the weekend are still up in the air. Regardless of what happened, the incidence has angered a lot of Pakistanis. The government of Pakistan closed off supply routes that the U.S. military relies on to transport supplies into Afghanistan.
This whole situation is quite important as it relates to U.S. foreign policy. This can have a big effect on the economy, which can have a big effect on your investments.
While I don't claim to be an expert on foreign policy, I do know that these supply routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan are quite important to the U.S. military in its efforts in Afghanistan. If Pakistan keeps all routes closed, it will make it even more difficult to fight the war.
I see one of three scenarios happening from all of this.
The first scenario is that Pakistan takes a hard stand and does not let any American supplies cross borders. This makes it too difficult for the U.S. to fight a war in Afghanistan and the U.S. military pulls out.
The second scenario is that Pakistan takes a hard stand and the U.S. government retaliates by escalating the war in Pakistan. This scenario could be very dangerous.
The third scenario (and probably most likely) is that the Pakistani government talks tough against the U.S. and maybe even symbolically makes the war effort a little tougher for Americans. However, the Pakistani government, while talking tough, still does Washington DC's bidding (in secret) as the U.S. government continues to use bribes in an attempt to get what they want.
I am not making any big predictions on what will happen with Pakistan, but it is something to keep an eye on. It will have major effects on the overall foreign policy of the U.S. and it will eventually have economic effects one way or the other.