Benjamin Domenech at Real Clear World’s ‘The Compass‘ blog produced this interesting piece on Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak’s efforts to bring a moderate form of Islam to Afghanistan. Here’s an excerpt: It was on this day in 2001 that the United States and Britain launched Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, which seems as proper […]
Australia is not happy with the FPA Russia blog. The University of Sydney’s Philipp Ivanov wrote that my “arguments and the way they’re presented extremely narrow-minded, seriously lacking in depth and…biased”, leaving him “very disappointed that such a credible source of commentary as FPA fails to present a balanced and well-researched view on developments, issues […]
Bob Woodward has been flying about D.C talking up his book, “Obama’s Wars”. And for good reason. He’s leveling very serious arguments against President Obama’s handling of the War in Afghanistan. He has already talked up a storm with Larry King. Now he’s delivered quite a few blows to the White House during a conversation […]
In his interview with Larry King, journalist Bob Woodward has come out and said outright that Colin Powell is the best candidate for Secretary of Defense after Robert Gates steps down from that role in 2011. General Powell, as Woodward has pointed out numerous times, is a walking embodiment of the history of American wars […]
The Washington Post editorial page shares my concern of President Obama’s seeming lack of commitment in his Afghanistan strategy, as portrayed in Bob Woodward’s ‘Obama’s Wars’ series: What’s most disturbing in Mr. Woodward’s book is the evidence it offers that Mr. Obama’s own commitment to his plan is weak. The president is described as preoccupied […]
However disgracefully he was forced out, let’s get one thing straight: Luzhkov was a dirty crook. And so is the interim Mayor. Today’s New York Times grandly muses about the ‘two sides’ of Luzhkov – the top city manager who turned Moscow from a “trash-strewn” dump to a “humming megalopolis of skyscrapers, luxury boutiques and […]
Well, I just finished the 1st of Bob Woodward’s three-part series ‘Obama’s War’ in the Washington Post and came away keying a different aspect than Woodward and likely the Obama administration wanted to get across. Woodward’s main theme in this first section is that the high brass of the US military (Mullen, McChrystal, Petraeus) failed […]
Ever since I watched the Ridley Scott film “Gladiator” ten years ago, and winced at the public and private dissembling that was the meat of that film, I’ve always toed a somewhat cautionary line between freedom of expression–as something more than a principle– and responsible art-making. At issue: when does a plausible experience ring […]
Apologies for my lack of coverage regarding the recent Afghanistan parliamentary elections, but I’ve been swamped with some of life’s other challenges…..basically my 4 month year old daughter’s unquenchable thirst for her dad’s attention. Anyhoo, many others have written on the subject, including Joshua Foust and some of his Registan.net colleagues. Here Foust describes some […]
As Moscow’s once indestructible mayor flees on a hastily arranged trip to Austria, the question is less will he accept defeat like Gorbachev did following his 1991 detention in his Crimean dacha but will he even be allowed to return home? “Churchill once remarked that observing a Russian power-struggle ‘is like watching two dogs fighting […]
Foreign Policy Association has seemed to transform into Afghanistan Association as our website has recently produced a myriad of fascinating pieces on the Central Asian state. Here are three really worth checking out! On FPA’s website’s main page, the Viewpoint series features an article by Mehdi Noorbaksh titled ‘Irreparable Mistake to Leave Afghanistan‘. Noorbaksh makes […]
In just a few short months, American troops will be replacing the embedded British soldiers in most of Helmand province. These British troops have spent the past several years attempting to bring stability to one of Afghanistan’s most violent and unstable regions. For instance, one-third of the 335 British soldiers killed in the country since […]
Refreshingly clear insight from the Economist in today’s article about Putin’s legacy: The real problem is not that the state in Russia is too powerful or ambitious, but that it fails in its basic functions of providing adequate health care, security, justice and infrastructure. Indeed, today’s fatal bombings in Vladikavkaz as well as ever increasing […]
The latest Afghanistan and Iraq cost analysis by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) will not sit well with many Americans living on a tight budget. Though the war in Iraq is costing less and less, the US military is basically transferring these saved funds to the Afghan conflict. Between 2009 and 2010, the average monthly cost […]
An American star not only coaches the Russian national basketball team but also praises the USSR’s controversial 1972 victory over his own country, while Putin claims to be modeling himself on America’s greatest president: After a century of representing humanity’s thesis and antithesis, are the two powers merging into one another in a cute form […]