Over the last forty years of Afghanistan’s tragic military history (the war in the 1980s, the civil war in the 1990s and the US occupation since 2001), opium has always played a role in the fate of the country. The sad irony is that Afghanistan’s unique ecology coupled with US military policy in the region…
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – The Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland The best way for us to understand Afghanistan is to look at the record of American involvement going back four decades and to look at the record requires a reexamination of…
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad was roundly criticised by Indian commentators when he last passed through Delhi in May and advised the officials he met with an earthy sense of realism and foreboding that it’s high time they got down from the high horse to try and begin a conversation with…
Talks between Afghan authorities and the Taliban, which began in Doha on Saturday with the goal of ensuring lasting peace in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of American and NATO troops after almost 19 years, were called historical by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. However, the question is whether this is just a spectacle to portray…
There was a time when New Delhi was proudly selling the notion of establishing its own New Silk Road – from the Gulf of Oman to the intersection of Central and South Asia – to compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Now it looks like the Indians have stabbed themselves in the back….
It is America’s longest overseas war and shows no clear sign of ending despite a shaky peace deal underway between the Trump administration and Taliban militants. A phased withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan over the next year could yet be derailed, resulting in continued American military operations in the South Asian country – nearly…
