*Update: Here is my review of Adeeb Khalid’s ‘Islam after Communism’ on the CA site.
Josh Hammer of FPA’s ‘Terrorism‘ blog, wrote a fierce criticism of the Pakistani governments move to grant the Swat region autonomy. Hammer rightly fears that this may lead to other such claims of autonomy in the tribal areas of Afghanistan/Pakistan and will let the Taliban have free reign to attack both the Paki/Afghan governments and NATO forces. Hammer provocatively asserts that this move by the Paki government could now provide the US with a legitimate claim that it is not attacking/violating Pakistani sovereignty, but Taliban sovereignty.
At the new ‘Rising Powers‘ blog, Christopher Herbert discusses the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Iran’s attempts to become a member. Iran as a member is always a hot topic, but what about Afghanistan? It is a ‘Contact’ member and the SCO has held at least one meeting discussing the nation’s stability. Long story short, as long as the US/NATO are in Afghanistan, it will not seek SCO membership.
Lastly, make sure to keep checking out the ‘Central Asia‘ blog. I will soon post my review of Adeeb Khalid’s ‘Islam after Communism’ on this site.
