After several interruptions, I’ve finally finished the best book to land on my desk this year: “It Happened On The Way To War,” by Rye Barcott, a former Marine who has devoted his life to bringing development to one of the world’s worst slums. The book (published by Bloomsbury) chronicles the creation of Carolina for Kibera (CFK), a …
Afghanistan
India Makes a Move in the Afghanistan Endgame
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Afghanistan this week at a crucial time for both countries and the troubled state lying between them. India and Pakistan have been engaged in a regional power struggle for influence over Afghanistan, and events of the last two days seemed to underline their differences. A day after India …
Afghanistan: A Taliban Offensive Hopes to Repeat Vietcong’s Tet Effect
“We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one,” former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once reflected on Vietnam. “We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the process we lost sight of one of the cardinal maxims of guerrilla war: the guerrilla wins if he does not lose. …
Osama is Dead, But ‘Bin Ladenism’ Endures in Southeast Asia
Just over a week after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, pundits seem keen to tout the end of “Bin Ladenism,” too. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks “lived long enough to see so many young Arabs repudiate his ideology,” observed the Times‘ Thomas Friedman. Although he and others are right to celebrate the ‘Arab Spring,’ it seems …
Global Briefing May 4, 2011: Friends, Foes and Final Frontiers
Friends or Foes — The fact that Pakistani officials weren’t informed of the U.S. operation carried out on their soil, is the strongest sign yet that Washington no longer trusts its ally, writes Omar Waraich from Islamabad; In the Telegraph, Praveen Swami says Pakistan “conned” the West on Bin Laden.
Asian Implications — In the Jakarta …
Could Bin Laden’s Death Speed The End To The Afghan War?
As accumulating press reports confirm, intelligence agencies, security officials, and independent experts around the globe agree the death of Osama Bin Laden in no way lowers the curtain on his al Qaeda organization, nor extinguishes the myriad radical groups and individuals sharing its ideology of international jihad. But if there’s …
Ambassador Loses Fighter-Jet Bid, Takes Marbles, Goes Home
Some big news from New Delhi today on one of the world’s biggest outstanding defense orders: the $10 billion contract to supply 126 fighter jets to the Indian Air Force. After the news broke that both U.S. bids were out of the running, the U.S. Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, resigned.
This morning’s newspapers revealed that the …
Does Pakistan Really Want a Stable Afghanistan?
In recent weeks, ties between Islamabad and Washington have grown more strained than a cup of sickly sweet South Asian chai. A prolonged kerfuffle over Raymond Davis, the American CIA agent who gunned down two Pakistani men allegedly pursuing him in Lahore, sparked protests across the country and triggered a diplomatic crisis that, while …
Democracy, Kazakh Style: Where the Challenger Votes for the Incumbent
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled this Central Asian state for the entirety of its independent existence following the disintegration of the U.S.S.R, cruised to reelection this Sunday in polls that reportedly saw over 90% of eligible voters turn out. Critics, though, say the election was a choreographed farce. …
Global Briefing, Mar. 9, 2011: Imperialism, ‘Experts’ and Insect Plagues
Cheer Up, Mate —Foreign Policy responds to Fareed Zakaria’s cover story on American decline with an essay by Joseph Nye (of ‘soft power’ fame). Nye calls Zakaria’s account “gloomy” and argues that America still has lots to cheer about.
Imperial Expertise — In the National, historian Manan Ahmed argues that an army of overpaid …
Why Pakistan Is in No Mood to Back Down in U.S. Showdown
Raymond Davis, meet Aaron DeHaven. Davis is the U.S. diplomat — or alleged CIA contractor, depending on which account you believe — arraigned on murder charges in Lahore, with Pakistan thus far unmoved by his claim of diplomatic immunity following a shooting incident that left two Pakistanis dead. DeHaven is a security contractor …