AfPak (or Af-Pak) is a neologism used within US foreign policy circles to designate Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single theater of operations. The neologism reflects the policy approach introduced by the Obama administration, which regarded the region of Afghanistan and Pakistan as having a single, dominant political and military situation that required a joint policy in the War on Terror. Following sharp criticism from Pakistan, condemning the perceived comparison of their country with Afghanistan, the US Government stopped using the term in 2010.