22 July’s heinous, neo-fascist killings in Norway fill us with sorrow for many reasons. Not to detract from the deaths or suffering that occurs on a daily basis elsewhere, but the events that unfolded struck us differently because of their context – Norway seems so peaceful – and the evident, calculated manner in which the […]
Guns, sex, and cartoons. If you’re a 13 year old boy – scratch that – if you are a male, those words probably gain your attention a bit. And since US foreign policy circles are predominately male, I’m hoping my readership levels will go up with this post. On to the sensationalism…. Guns. As discussed in […]
Evolution of violence against the state will occur in environments that do not allow for coping mechanisms, perceived political inclusion, and sufficient state propaganda. Iran and Turkey, for example, are states that can shift if the former were to experience erosion of coping mechanisms, pushing it further towards violence, and the latter could see improvement in political inclusion, pushing it further towards peace.
If we are able to recognize that US foreign policy in respect to instability in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India is irrational due to the absence of a ‘necessary but not sufficient’ condition – bolstering of Pakistan’s strategic advantages over India – then the easy part is done. Crafting a foreign policy that addresses this contingent […]
Nicholas Kristof’s recent op-ed in the New York Times highlighted Richard Holbrooke’s concern for the declining relationship between the US and Pakistan and, essentially, pronounced the need for America not to forsake Pakistan, as tumultuous as relations may be. Pakistan, without question, is grappling with a litany of issues: rampant poverty and natural disasters; protection of minorities […]
But let’s talk about bin Laden. The first notion we can discard is that the US pulled this feat off alone–that our intelligence and military capabilities allowed a convoy of Blackhawk helicopters carrying teams of Navy Seals, along with gunships (loaded with 100+ Army Rangers or Marines) flying defense above the Blackhawks, to penetrate, probably from Afghanistan, 100 miles or more into Pakistan’s airspace to one of the country’s most heavily guarded locations (Pakistan’s ‘West Point’) without detection by Pakistan’s intelligence/ military forces or without encountering Pakistani fighter jets.
Zainab Jeewanjee discusses CNN coverage of Libya’s Gaddafi and recent uprisings. She weaves that story into a larger discussion of enemy, but rational world figures operating against American interests and how understanding their political objectives is key to an effective counterterrorism strategy post 9/11, specifically in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Recent attempt by global terror outfits seeking to target European interests have heighted fear within the EU that an attack in the region seems an increasing possibility. Driven by these fears there has been a renewed effort to evaluate the regions counter terror initiatives. This has led the EU’s Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove to […]
A pen and ink and suminagashi print of the 2007 arrest of the retired general and former Director of Pakistan’s spy agency, Hamid Gul. Lt. Gen Gul is thought to have managed ISI’s coordination with the Afghan Taliban in order to develop strategic depth in Afghanistan to counter any Indian intervention in that country.