ISLAMABAD -- Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, is clearly eager to claim that his newly installed government rests on a stable foundation.

Karzai's six-month rule has been one of the more stable periods in the history of the embattled country, which has gone from one crisis to another since its invasion by the former Soviet Union in 1979.

While a "loya jirga," the grand council of influential Afghans, just met to agree on a new government and wrangled over issues such as the allocation of Cabinet slots, the country's long-term future depends on its ability to tackle a host of vital political, economic and security issues.