NewsTrust - Most Recent Stories

The Case for Humility in Afghanistan

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Steve Coll - Oct. 18 (News Analysis) - The United States has two compelling interests at issue in the Afghan conflict. One is the ongoing, increasingly successful but incomplete effort to reduce the threat posed by al Qaeda and related jihadi groups, and to finally eliminate the al Qaeda

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Turkey's Guilty Conscience

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Christian Caryl - Oct. 13 (Special Report) - One of the world's thorniest historical conflicts is on the verge of being solved. But long-term peace between Turkey and Armenia might be as hard to achieve as a lasting Middle East truce.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Deciphering the attack on Pakistan’s Army headquarters

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Hassan Abbas - Oct. 12 (News Analysis) - The Pakistani Army's track record is not enviable. Its disastrous interferences in political affairs and pursuance of illegitimate foreign policy goals through non-state actors cannot be justified on any grounds. Still, Pakistan needs a disciplined, cohesive and efficient army today more than ever before. Anything less than a full-on counterterrorism effort from the Pakistani military will attract more serious challenges tomorrow than those it confronted yesterday.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Pakistan's new crisis of democracy

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Blake Hounshell - Oct. 08 (Opinion) - Some of what is happening in Pakistan is surely the usual Kabuki theater, but there could be real consequences for U.S. goals in the region. As Imtiaz Gul warned last week on this Web site, if Kerry-Lugar's conditions "are viewed as coercive by Pakistani officials, they could prompt elements within the civil-military establishment to stonewall the aid and obstruct military cooperation." Never underestimate the power of parochialism.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Tom Coburn picks on political science

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Daniel W. Drezner - Oct. 08 (Comment) - OK, dear readers, I want you to close your eyes and imagine a world in which your entire knowledge of political behavior emanated only from CNN, pollsters, pundits, historians, candidates, and political parties.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Eight Years’ War

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By J Alexander Thier - Oct. 08 (News Analysis) - Eight years on, we are still betwixt and between when it comes to defining our objectives for Afghanistan. This conundrum is not due to mission creep or waffling, but rather the inexorable logic of intervention and the limitations of our capabilities. Afghanistan, its fabric of governance and society rent by war, became a petri dish of Islamist extremism and global jihadists. Unrepaired, its inaccessible landscape would continue to produce these horrific aberrations. And so, logically, to succeed in the anti-terror mission, we had not only to throw the bastards out, but put in something else that would prevent them from coming back.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

What are the odds that Obama's Iran talks will succeed?

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Peter Feaver - Oct. 01 (Opinion) - How should we measure success in the talks with Iran that begin today? I propose the following sliding scale.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Think Again: Palestine

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Zahi Khouri - Sep. 25 (Opinion) - The idea of "economic peace" suggests an economic conflict, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is certainly not that. Although economic issues do figure into Palestinian concerns, they are not nearly as important as addressing the rights of Palestinian refugees, terminating Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, and establishing a viable, independent, and sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. To suggest that economics are what this is about would be to sideline history and to willfully ignore the reality of Israel's occupation. This conflict is political and it calls for a solution that is political.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 9 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Four Reasons for Optimism in Pakistan

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Imtiaz Gul - Sep. 18 (News Analysis) - ... few observers seem to have noticed that, over the last five months or so, Pakistan has made an astonishing turnaround. In fact, it's time for cautious optimism about my country's fate.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

George Will is wrong about Afghanistan

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Christian Brose - Sep. 02 (Opinion) - The problem in Afghanistan is not that a counterinsurgency strategy has failed, but that is hasn't really ever been tried. There are risks with either strategy, be it reinforcement or withdrawal, but I'd like to hear from the critics why their alternative is better in light of its likely implications, which to me seem pretty awful. Given how bad things would likely get in Afghanistan if we adopted Will's prescriptions, shouldn't we at least give McChrystal's plan a decent period of time to work before pulling the ripcord?

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Afghan Elections: Bad And Ugly

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Ian Bremmer - Aug. 26 (Opinion) - While the fact that the elections were held is a positive development, the end result is likely to lack legitimacy. President Hamid Karzai probably gained more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of the elections, which means that a second round is not needed, but there is a perception that he overcompensated for his declining popularity by engaging in wide-scale rigging and manipulation.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Afghan election roundup

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - Aug. 24 (News Analysis) - Incumbent Afghan president Hamid Karzai has won 72 percent of the vote from last Thursday's presidential election, compared to 23 percent for his nearest competitor, Abdullah Abdullah, according to an early report obtained from a team of campaign observers (Telegraph, originally from Pajhwok). Though there are still two million votes to be counted, they are in areas where Karzai is expected to have a strong showing, and the scale of this 'victory' will spark accusations of vote rigging and corruption.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Voting Day in Afghanistan

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Michael Wilkerson - Aug. 20 (Special Report) - Afghans went to the polls to elect a president. Despite the milestone achievement, though, the country still has a long war ahead.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Most Outrageous U.S. Lies About Global Healthcare | Foreign Policy

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Annie Lowrey, Michael Wilkerson - Aug. 18 (News Analysis) - As the U.S. Congress this summer holds its first serious health-care reform debate since the Clinton era, the resulting public furor has featured increasingly overheated claims about everything from so-called "death panels" to the supposed prowess of America's homegrown medicine. Many of the most wildly inaccurate statements have been directed abroad -- sometimes at the United States' closest allies, such as Britain and Canada, and often at the best health-care systems in the world.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The AfPak Channel

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Ahsan Butt - Aug. 18 (News Analysis) - More recently, a Pew survey revealed that only 9 percent of Pakistanis think of the U.S. as a partner, with 64 percent considering it an enemy. A Gallup/Al-Jazeera poll showed similar disenchantment with the U.S. A clear majority of respondents, 59 percent to be precise, consider the U.S. the greatest threat to Pakistan; the corresponding numbers for India and the Taliban were eighteen and eleven respectively.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Election security in Kunduz | The AfPak Channel

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Gilles Dorronsoro - Aug. 18 (Opinion) - I was in Kunduz yesterday. The security there is extremely problematic -- the road from Kabul to Kunduz is cut by the Taliban on a daily basis. The last attack in Dashti archi where the chief police was killed is a huge blow to the security forces.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Taliban will still be winning -- unless what comes after the election is real change.

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By J Alexander Thier - Aug. 18 (Research) - It is campaign season in Afghanistan. Thirty-eight presidential candidates and more than 3,000 prospective Provincial Council members are on the hustings. Colorful posters of candidates posing in the regional dress of sought-after constituencies festoon the walls throughout the capital. Candidates of all stripes are promising change: an end to the war with the Taliban, the start of a new war on corruption, and any number of wild schemes: One hopeful told me in Kabul that he would distribute 100 acres of land to every Afghan family.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Election rallies with Karzai, Abdullah, and Ghani

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Alex Strick van Linschoten - Aug. 17 (Special Report) - With only four days to go before the elections, I thought it might be useful to comment on how the opposition candidates' rallies went this past week.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Tough Questions Nobody Wants to Ask About Afghanistan

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Morton Abramowitz - Aug. 14 (Opinion) - For instance, few questions have been asked about the consequences or the morality of the United States urging Pakistan to displace two million in the Swat Valley in order to attack militants using air and artillery. Editorialists tend to be either quiet on the Pakistan-Afghanistan question, or strongly supportive of American efforts. Strategy is almost never questioned. Media watchers seem more interested in determining whether the press is soft or hard on U.S. President Barack Obama. Until a recent uptick in coverage, the number of television minutes and front-page stories had dropped precipitously. And, the American media still has little regular presence in Afghanistan; most well-known columnists visit courtesy of the aircraft of senior American military and diplomatic officials.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Meet Afghanistan's Biggest Blogger

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Annie Lowrey - Aug. 13 (Special Report) - At this point, the litany of contemporary Afghanistan's problems is well known. The country has few paved roads, let alone computers; its population is poor and illiterate; it is blighted with poverty, disease, and violence. For the past 30 years, Kabul has been under the control of radicals, strongmen, foreigners, or some combination of the three. Only rarely can the foreign reporters who describe these conditions leave the safe bubble of Kabul or the back seat of an armored vehicle. As a result, Afghanistan's people, culture, and traditions remain woefully unknown to the world, or reduced to crude stereotypes.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Militarization of Afghan Aid

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Anna Husarska - Aug. 01 (Special Report) - Put simply, the long-term goals of aid work differ drastically from the short-term goals of counterinsurgency. While NGOs might strive to lift literacy rates by boosting enrollment at school, the military might build an impressive classroom in the name of "winning hearts and minds" but leave no teachers behind to staff it.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Domino Theory Returns

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Robert Haddick - Jul. 27 (News Analysis) - Why is the United States fighting a war in Afghanistan? According to the Obama administration's strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the goal of the campaign is to "disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its safe havens." But according to Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a new member of the Defense Policy Board, the more important reason to is to prevent the Taliban from taking over Pakistan.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The New Nuri al-Maliki

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Sam Parker - Jul. 23 (Special Report) - The circumstances surrounding Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's visit to Washington this week could not be more different from the last time he was in town. In July 2006, Maliki was largely unknown, both in Iraq and in the West, and lacked a constituency. Today, he is the dominant force in Iraqi politics, has consolidated much of the emerging Iraqi state into his own hands, and has won a measure of democratic legitimacy after January's provincial elections. In 2006, with Iraq on the verge of state failure, it was Maliki's indecisiveness that troubled Washington. Today, with his country emerging as a sovereign power, his assertiveness is what's worrying.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Israel Turns on Itself

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Noah Efron - Jul. 20 (Opinion) - Secular Israelis, for their part, live in perpetual dismay over the fact that their successes have never led them to where they expected to arrive. Their parents’ generation, and that of their parents, expected to be vindicated, that the value and truth of the ideology they embraced would be confirmed by the society they built. After Zionists produced the Good Society, they reasoned, no one could doubt that Zionism itself is a social good. And for some time, it seemed that this formula had proven itself to be Israel’s self-image, broadly, as the country passed through two phases.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Revisiting Obama's Riyadh meeting

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - Jul. 18 (News Analysis) - U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia are always something of a proverbial black box. And President Barack Obama's meeting with Saudi King Abdullah last month was no exception.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer