28. Moscow meeting is a landmark event The United States regretted its inability to take part in the talks on Afghanistan in Moscow this week. The Russian side was pinning hopes on a meeting of the exclusive Troika Plus (US, China, Russia and Pakistan) followed by a gathering in an […]
War and Peace in Afghanistan
The US Intelligence Community Sets Out Its Priorities
On Thursday, 30 September 2021, the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee approved the fiscal year 2022 budget for intelligence and intelligence-related activities. These activities cover the work of the Defense Department, the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XXVII)
27. Russia draws red lines for US Moscow has categorically stated that it will not accept a US military presence in the Central Asian region. This reiteration has come at the level of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov who told Tass that Afghanistan had been discussed at a meeting […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XXVI)
26. Taliban back in American swing chair The US state department admitted belatedly late last night that the first face-to-face meeting between American officials and the Taliban since the regime change in Kabul would take place in the weekend at Doha. Much planning has gone into this development. The poignancy […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XXV)
25. Taliban receives overtures from near and far The Taliban is getting many suitors lately. It is far from the “pariah” that the Biden Administration thought it was destined to be. During the past month alone, the Taliban received six suitors from the region and beyond offering courtship — the […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XXIV)
24. UK fires the first shot in the New Great Game While India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is doing a masterly job to canvass support for the Biden Administration’s project to delay any constructive engagement with the Taliban Government in Kabul by the international community until Washington gets its […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XXIII)
When Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman lands in Tashkent on Sunday, she will be practically carving on a tiny piece of ivory. This is not to blame Sherman who is arguably a strategic asset for the Biden Administration as she brings into the foreign policy team in Washington a […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XXII)
22. US, UK prepare to re-engage Taliban Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has written yet another opinion piece in the Washington Post, sensing a turning point lies ahead with the Biden Administration assembling a sustainable, durable policy toward Afghanistan taking into account the new reality of the Taliban government. Quintessentially, […]
Afghanistan: Where’s The Cash?
Afghanistan’s US-run government was the world’s largest producer and exporter of opium, morphine, and the end-product, heroin. As it did after first seizing power in the mid-1990’s, Taliban, the Islamic anti-drug and anti-communist movement, is shutting down the Afghan drug trade. Billions worth of heroin, opium and morphine that had […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XIX)
19. SCO won’t be subaltern to QUAD As expected, the situation in Afghanistan was the focal point of the discussions at the 20th summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe on Friday. Yet, the SCO’s Dushanbe Declaration is scanty on the topic. The 8300-word document devoted hardly […]
The Afghan Aid Game Is A Gamble That No One Can Afford To Lose
To put it simply, millions of people’s lives are practically being held hostage by some politically minded members of the international community’s strategic fears about supposedly rewarding the Taliban for not fulfilling their expectations. Afghanistan is approaching the abyss as its impending humanitarian crisis threatens to spiral out of control […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XVIII)
18. India’s ‘over-the-horizon’ dilemma In England, they’d plan a park, build it but wouldn’t complete it until they could observe for a while the foot tracks of walkers, before deciding where to lay the pathways for optimal utility. The Blinken Administration and Modi Govt apparently think they don’t have that […]
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