His articles have been published by The New Yorker, the New York Times, and Moscow Times (English-language daily). He has published several books studying sectarian and ethnic violence, policing, and terrorism in various parts of the world, as well as the increasing crime, corruption and instability in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the region. During the First Gulf War (1991-1993) he was a research scholar at the Pakistan Institute of National Affairs where he completed two books on Persian Gulf politics. Jalalzai was Executive Director of the Daily Outlook, Afghanistan (2005-2009), and is a permanent writer of articles for Pakistan's daily The Post. He has a regular column in the Daily Times (Lahore, Pakistan) and The New Nation (Bangladesh).