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Pakistan and the U.S. Re-Engage Again
April 03, 2012 | Mehdi Rezaie
Relations between Pakistan and the U.S. have nosedived in recent months particularly after the incident in November of last year when the coalition forces stationed on the Afghan soil attacked Pakistani military outposts on the border killing tens of Pakistani military personnel. The souring of relations between the ...
“Half-hearted and Haphazard” Negotiation Efforts
April 02, 2012 | Dilawar Sherzai
The efforts regarding the reconciliation process with Taliban both by Afghan government and US do not seem to be bearing any fruit. The reconciliation process has undergone another setback, as Hezb-i-Islami has also announced that it is suspending every sort of peace talks with the Afghan ...
The Changing Nature of Civil War in Pakistan
April 02, 2012 | Musa Khan Jalalzai
Civil war, drone killings, tar get killing, sectarianism, ethnic violence, extremism and regionalism have endangered the national unity of Pakistan. The country is now in danger and stands at the verge of collapse. The killing of innocent civilians by their own army, their own police and hidden hands raise many ...
Peace Deal or Paying Gavel?
April 02, 2012 | Jawad Rahmani
The peace process with the Taliban militants is getting complicated in a strange way. Firstly, it got out of the control of Afghan government and seemed to be led by US, Germany and Qatar. But after few initial vague and secret meetings, Taliban leaders rebuffed to continue talks on the account of, according to their claims ...
The Counter-Terrorism Doctrineand the Untenable Political Outlook
April 01, 2012 | Mehdi Rezaie
The United States government andthe Pentagon, report edly, are considering a drastic expansion of the roles ofresponsibilities of the CIA in Afghanistan in the period after a major drawdownof U.S. and allied troops will be completed. The boosted ...
Sectarian Violence Continues in Pakistan
April 01, 2012 | Mohd Ahsan
A wave of sectarian killings has once again hit the Baluchistan province of Pakistan putting lives of religious and ethnic minorities at the mercy of insurgents. Targeted killing and genocide of a particular community, the Hazaras, – whose number reaches to only about half a million forming a tiny portion of the 20 percent Pakistani Shia population - has intensified. Life has turned ...
The Regional Engagement
April 01, 2012 | JawadRahmani
Following the two-day long Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Dushanbe, the United Nations' security General Ban-ki-moon uttered that as security transition accelerates, the regional engagement becomes far vital for future economic and political stability in Afghanistan. "Economic cooperation ...
Local Governance and the Need for New Vision
March 31, 2012 | Mehdi Rezaie
The Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) was established in 2007 to serve as a specialized, umbrella organization responsible for the whole range of issues related to local governance at the provincial and district levels. Prior to that, local governance issues fell under the exclusive realm ...
Afghanistan Grows in Vacillation for U.S.
March 31, 2012 | Abdul Samad Haidari
The Obama administration plays great role in the fight against terrorism but that is hard and complicated to read. Indeed, it makes no sense to the people on the ground. Mr. Obama in 2009 declared that the Taliban and Haqqani Network have had great gains in the country and that it needs a proper ...
Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA)
March 29, 2012 | Dilawar Sherzai
It is really important for Afghanistan in the contemporary scenario that it must strengthen the regional ties along with the international ones. Afghanistan along with its neighbors can form a cooperation that can not only support the country but the region as well. Some of the basic problems in Afghanistan are similar ...
Drugs: Is Afghanistan the Sole R Responsible esponsible Countr Country?
March 29, 2012 | Mohd. Ahsan
Afghanistan is badly defamed for opium production. The governments of numerous countries hold Afghans as the first people responsible for trafficking of drugs into their territory. Pressure is high on Afghan government for not doing enough to counter drug trade, poppy cultivation and ...
ANA, US Atrocities and Our Jinn
March 29, 2012 | Musa Khan Jalalzai
Afghan President has recently declared that his country’s Security Forces would conduct all military operations independently in 2013. While talking to journalists in Military Academy in Kabul, Hamid Karzai contradicted his statement by saying that security forces might not currently be capable to defend the ...
The Stigma of Mental Disorders in Afghanistan
March 28, 2012 | By Dr. Hamish Darwish
The deep scars of the war are clearly visible across Afghanistan. The destruction of the factories, bridges, roads and homes are clearly visible in the cities, towns, and even small villages. Less visible to the eyes is the deep scars and psychological injuries which the 30 years war has left on the people of Afghanistan. The majority ...
The Peace-making Enterprise in Afghanistan
March 28, 2012 | By Mehdi Rezaie
The International Crisis Group has published a new report on the state of peace and reconciliation efforts on the issue of conflict in Afghanistan. The report is a devastating critique of the efforts by the government of Afghanistan and the peace council constituted by it to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan. The report ...
Would the Prone Opens Up Once Again?
March 28, 2012 | By Jawad Rahmani
A man in an Afghan army uniform shot and killed two British soldiers Monday inside a NATO base in southern part of the country. The attack added to the latest series of attacks on international security forces by Afghan associates. Reportedly, the gunman was shot and killed. In the past few years, attacks carried out by individuals ...
Environmental Conservation in Afghanistan
March 27, 2012 | By Mehdi Rezaie
A silent disaster making itself gradually felt all across Afghanistan is an environmental one. Afghanistan faces an acute environmental crisis due to decades of war and neglect. The extent of destruction of environment in Afghanistan is astonishing with the situation set to get worse as wars and conflicts continue and an imminent population ...
Talking About Talks: Toward a Political Settlement in Afghanistan
March 27, 2012 |
A negotiated political settlement is a desirable outcome to the conflict in Afghanistan, but current talks with the Taliban are unlikely to result in a sustainable peace. There is a risk that negotiations under present conditions could further destabilise ...
Towards a Hunger-Free Asia and Pacific
March 27, 2012 | José Graziano da Silva
Economic advance in Asia and the Pacific has been impressive in the last decades. A recent World Bank report talks about the dramatic progress in poverty reduction across the region. In 1981, 77 percent of Asians lived in poverty – but by 2008 the proportion was just 14 percent. Nonetheless the Asia-Pacific ...
Kandahar Massacre: Their Disregard and Our Hypocrisy
March 26, 2012 | Abbas Daiyar
Much have been written and said about the Kandahar massacre in the last few weeks. The American soldier Robert Bales has been officially charged with 17 accounts of murder, six counts of assault and attempted murder. In an interview to a US radio, the journalist ...
The Educational Challenges in Afghanistan
March 26, 2012 | Nasruddin Hemati
With the beginning of New Year in Afghanistan, Afghan boys and girls rush towards schools that are still threatened by extremist forces and lack the required standards. Warning school students have turned to be a tactical instrument for the extremist Taliban to spread their influence across the less-secure provinces. There ...
No Change in Global Economic System
March 26, 2012 | Jawad Rahmani
One of the critical challenges ahead of global economic recovery is sovereign debt that during good times many nations borrowed from the market or pumped in after the start of financial crisis. Since the very start of crisis, experts and politicians have been sharply divided on ‘how to deal’ with the problem. On the one ...
The Strategic Agreement and the Clash of Ideologies
March 25, 2012 | Mehdi Rezaie
The government of Afghanistan’s overweening enthusiasm to see the end of the presence of foreign troops is overflowing. President Hamid Karzai leads the charge by putting the Americans under great pressure inorder to extract as much as possible out of the prospective strategic deal with the U.S. What has ...
Karzai’s Team and Peace and Strategic Agreement Processes
March 25, 2012 | Sher Alam Saqib
The Taliban have recently announced that they have suspended the peace talks with the United States of America (USA) because it has not allowed Taliban office in Qatar and released Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo bay. Since the very beginning, peace talks have remained confused and ...
Afghanistan Must not be Isolated
March 25, 2012 | Dilawar Sherzai
The ongoing scenario in Afghanistan is really very significant. At this critical juncture it is necessary that the international community must not leave the country alone. Above all, it is necessary that the basic issues in Afghanistan’s political and social lives must not be left undecided. It is a fact that the foreign ...
Telepathic Analysis of the Afghan War
March 24, 2012 | Musa Khan Jalalzai
While I sleep, my soul and brain waves start visiting hundreds of people, offices, files, and archives, picking out messages, reports, information, analysis and the records of negotiations behind closed doors. In a meditative state, I set in the skies looking at the bottom of earth to find out some important things without ...
Runaway Capital Flight
March 24, 2012 | Mehdi Rezaie
Afghanistan’s Central Government or Da Afghanistan Bank has decided, for the first time, to regulate the amount of foreign currency that is allowed to be taken out of Afghanistan at the country’s exit points such as airports. Reportedly, the Central Bank is in the process of formulating and introducing new regulations that will be aimed ...
The Emotional Standings of Mr. President
March 24, 2012 | Jawad Rahmani
Few days after terrible incident in Kandahar province - murdering of 16 innocent civilians by an American soldier, President Hameed Karzai, while condemning it with strongest possible language, asked foreign allies for rescheduling military withdrawal timetable. He said that 2013 should be the deadline for military withdrawal ...
US Troops Withdrawal and Future of Afghanistan
March 19, 2012 | Dilawar Sherzai
The future of Afghan war and of peace and tranquility in the region is highly dependent on the decision of the US about the withdrawal of its troops from the Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan is getting very frustrating. The uncertainties have shaken hands with unfortunate and awkward incidents and the political acumen ...
United Kingdom: the Threat is Real
March 19, 2012 | Musa Khan Jalalzai
This is not a flawed perception of terror threat, frightening self developed story of Harry Potter or daydream; the possibility of future terror attacks in the United Kingdom is real. Sometimes possibilities became realities when the conflict of interests among states reaches at the point of no return. The recent clash ...
Dear Compatriots, Do not Fall for Bogus Claims of Taliban
March 19, 2012 | Jawad Rahmani
In "add your comment" of a report released regarding violence break out after last month's Quran burning in Bagram Airfield in a local newspaper, a visitor of the site claimed that he lately joined Taliban militants in order to hold Jihad against the presence of foreign security forces. Without reasoning for the authenticity ...
Is it the “End of the Rope”?
March 18, 2012 | Dilawar Sherzai
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's demands that the foreign forces should leave Afghanistan as soon as possible are getting very serious. After the incident of killing of 16 Afghan villagers in Kandahar by a US staff sergeant, President Karzai has clearly mentioned that it is now time for international troops to leave Afghan ...
“Two Sessions”: the Great Event of the Chinese People in Politics
March 18, 2012 | Xu Feihong
If you bumped into someone on your way in the street of China currently, and inquired what catches his/her eyes the most, the answers would almost be the same-- "Liang Hui" (literally "the two sessions"). But why? Because the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and ...
A New Chapter in Russia-U.S. relations?
March 18, 2012 | Mehdi Rezaie
A few days ago a momentous event in Russia-U.S. relations was marked. Russia formally offered the U.S. to use a military base in its eastern city of Ulyanovsk to be used for the transit of troops and military supplies to Afghanistan. A few days after the election of Vladimir Putin to Russian presidency, this move by Russia is ...
Urban Poor and Social Vulnerability in Afghanistan
March 17, 2012 | By Mehdi Rezaie
Afghan children are at the bottom of the Afghan social pyramid, much like women and young girls for whom life has been a constant battle for survival. Child labor is a reality and a major social vulnerability in Afghanistan of today. The numbers of children who are working to feed themselves and their families have been ...
The End Game in Afghanistan
March 17, 2012 | Dilawar Sherzai
The unpopular war in Afghanistan, if defined properly, is now becoming notorious. Going through what is being called as "The End Game" is becoming very tough for the International community involved in Afghanistan and led by US or it may be that it is not yet the end of the game. Though many in international media ...