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Tag Archives: Taliban

Putting some context around negotiating with the Taliban

Putting some context around negotiating with the Taliban

  In early September, the Taliban began to fill cabinet positions for the new, “provisional government” that will attempt to stabilize Afghanistan following America’s military occupation and disorderly withdrawal from the nation. While it is true that the makeup of this cabinet is expected to evolve over time, the initial round of appointments includes some […]

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Weekly Foreign Affairs Quiz

Weekly Foreign Affairs Quiz

You can find the link to the quiz here.

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A Trump Doctrine? Not Yet

A Trump Doctrine? Not Yet

There will be no more nation-building in Afghanistan under the “Trump doctrine”. But will its policies allow a role for the Taliban in a future government?

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The Myth of Islamic Banking

The Myth of Islamic Banking

Islamists not only look at religion as a panacea to political issues, but also as a provider of social justice and an engine of economic prosperity.

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Focus on Pakistan

Focus on Pakistan

In a country where terror strikes are commonplace, you grow insensitive. You don’t flinch at the sound of a bomb, you don’t jolt at the sound of a gunshot. Death tolls that don’t touch the double digits don’t leave you in a state of shock, debilitated.

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That hiatus on drone strikes in Pakistan? No more.

That hiatus on drone strikes in Pakistan? No more.

Just days after Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) militants attacked the Karachi airport, the U.S. ended its hiatus on drone strikes in Pakistan. Approximately 16 died in the strikes, according to Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn. Both strikes targeted locations in North Warziristan. For the past several months, Pakistan has been drone-strike free, leaving the U.S. to focus most of its targeted […]

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On Negotiations…with Terrorists and with Congress

On Negotiations…with Terrorists and with Congress

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a recently released prisoner of the Taliban, has become the target of one of Washington’s favorite games: shooting first and asking questions later. Much of what has been said  about Bergdahl is so blatantly partisan or so needlessly abusive as not to deserve comment. In the course of it, however, a couple of […]

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The Brave Pakistani

The Brave Pakistani

Pakistani born British author, Nadeem Aslam, once said that “Pakistan produces people of extraordinary bravery. But no nation should ever require its citizens to be that brave.” Aitizaz Hasan is one such brave 15-year-old boy. Born and raised in the village of Ibrahimzai, Hangu, in the North-Western province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa of Pakistan, Aitizaz was […]

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When reporters keep silent instead of scoops

When reporters keep silent instead of scoops

During the Bosnia conflict, reporters in Sarajevo kept quiet about at least two great stories. We did so with an unwritten rule of realizing that sometimes silence is more important than scoops. The first was most of U.S. knew ABOUT the existence of a tunnel from Sarajevo to beyond the lines that had the city […]

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Shadow of Afghanistan (2012)

Shadow of Afghanistan (2012)

This documentary is all over the place. It is in part a history of modern Afghanistan and also a film about independent journalists – some of whom were killed – trying to report on the situation on the ground. Afghanistan is called “The Graveyard of Empires” for good reason: Every country or empire that has […]

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The Afghan Local Police and the U.S. exit strategy: Paying village militias

The Afghan Local Police and the U.S. exit strategy:  Paying village militias

by Jennifer Norris Americans who left the theatre watching “Zero Dark Thirty” thinking that the dark stain of torture is in our past, should be cautioned by our exit strategy in Afghanistan. As a 2014 deadline for ending our combat mission in Afghanistan approaches, policymakers say that our main objective is to prepare Afghan security […]

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Pakistan: Will Doctrinal Shifts Lead to Changes toward India?

Pakistan: Will Doctrinal Shifts Lead to Changes toward India?

According to new media reports (here and here), the Pakistani army has revised its doctrinal handbook to give priority to the country’s burgeoning internal security challenges.  The change appears, at least on the surface, to represent a fundamental shift away from the “India-centric” orientation that General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the powerful army chief, has long […]

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Health Worker Deaths in Pakistan: More Victims of the War on Terror?

Health Worker Deaths in Pakistan: More Victims of the War on Terror?

With the opening of “Zero Dark Thirty” this week, many have condemned the depiction of torture in the film — and debates have resurfaced about the “enhanced interrogation” of suspected terrorists by the United States to find Osama bin Laden. What gets left out of these discussions is the role that a deplorable espionage tactic played in […]

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What Pakistan Seeks in Afghanistan

What Pakistan Seeks in Afghanistan

By Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, Middle East Institute Scholar-In-Residence Assertions and opinions in this publication are solely those of the above-mentioned author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Middle East Institute, which expressly does not take positions on Middle East policy. Washington and Kabul have welcomed increased Pakistani cooperation in finding a political […]

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U.S. Interests in the Mideast–Forget Human Rights says Aaron David Miller, and Think Guns, Oil, and More Guns

U.S. Interests in the Mideast–Forget Human Rights says Aaron David Miller, and Think Guns, Oil, and More Guns

The Syrian rebels, or opposition, or the Syrian National Coalition (the name this motley assembly of Sunnis, Salafists, jihadists, and foreign insurgents) agreed to take on in Doha as a prerequisite for U.S. support (money PLUS guns), successfully launched a surface to air missile (SAM) about ten days ago, bringing down a Syrian government aircraft. […]

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