Michael Hughes: Imran Khan has been referred to as Pakistan’s Donald Trump, an apt comparison on one level given they are both mercurial, egoistical, nationalistic and demagogic. However, one main difference is that the playboy cricketer turned Islamic firebrand colluded with the deep state to win his election. Although Rawalpindi has always called the shots, having a
Javid Ahmad via The National Interest: Afghanistan is struggling to recover from damage done by war and tumultuous politics. To be sure, despite progress made towards self-reliance, the Afghan economy is still mostly donor-dependent. Despite a marginal increase in the total government expenditures between 2014 and 2017, donor grants provided to offset the Afghan budget represented an
IANS: The moment is laden with irony for President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul. The emergence of a Pathan in Islamabad should have provided him with comfort. Instead he is having kittens: the Pathan on the other side has an agenda which is totally at cross purposes with Ghani’s. Imran’s agenda would boost his popularity in the
The Conversation: For the past two years, Paul Brereton, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge and Army Reserve major general, has been conducting an investigation into the conduct of members of the SAS in Afghanistan. While the findings are not yet known, leaks from within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have suggested that as many
Ahmad Mohibi via The Diplomat: Vice President Dostum’s return to Afghanistan underlines the complexity of the battle for political influence. The underlying problem in Afghanistan is longstanding ethnic conflict and fears. Throughout history, Pashtuns predominantly ruled the nation and considered themselves the dominant ethnic group — but were not the majority of the population… The technocrats – represented
Shazar Shafqat via The Hill: The Taliban only needs to avoid losing in order to remain intact, whereas the U.S. forces need to win every time, all the time. That’s why — despite having scored several tactical level victories in Afghanistan — a strategic level victory has always eluded the United States. That’s why the idea
The Washington Post: A new administration initiative — an attempt to jump-start peace talks by opening a direct dialogue between U.S. and Taliban officials — deserves cautious support. If it can be pursued without undermining the government of Ashraf Ghani, it is worth a try. Click here to read more (external link).
Maha Akeel via Arab News: More than 100 Muslim scholars from around the world — including about 40 from Afghanistan itself, representing the diversity of the nation’s sects, ethnicities and regions — participated in the conference held in Jeddah and Makkah. For a country where more than 99 percent of the population is Muslim and which
Michael Hughes: The Islamic State terrorist group’s local affiliate in Afghanistan – IS-Khorasan – has grown stronger despite the U.S. and its allies dramatically increasing the tempo of airstrikes and loosening the rules of engagement. In fact, the terror group’s success makes U.S. President Donald Trump’s prediction of “victory” against ISIS in Afghanistan seem like pure
DAWN (Pakistan): According to a report released by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Afghan women still have minimal access to justice, often fail to get redress and honour crimes, even when reported, are rarely punished. In particular, the report details how mechanisms such as ‘mediation’ and pressure not to file actual cases end