Michael Hughes July 19, 2024 Afghanistan was not at the forefront of mind for most American voters in 2020, but four years later the situation is much different. With less than four months until the U.S. presidential election Afghanistan is at the center of attention, but not about go-forward policies. It is all about the
Davood Moradian: In Afghanistan’s crowded scene of actors and accomplices, the United Nations has been an enduring and prominent presence. However, it has successfully insulated itself from public scrutiny and accountability. Its decision to exclude Afghan women and civil society representatives from the just concluded Doha conference, the third such meeting the U.N. has sponsored,
Michael Hughes: Chinese President Xi Jinping at the South Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana called on the bloc to boost humanitarian support and efforts to rebuild Afghanistan given its criticality to the region’s security. The remarks come as the Taliban try to reassure the world the regime can crack down on terrorism, including
Michael Hughes: A number of UNSC members in March of 2023 agreed that the Taliban needed to be held accountable for treatment of women, human rights abuses, and violations of international law. Last July, the Security Council released a disturbing report that shined a bright light on the Taliban-terrorist nexus plaguing Afghanistan. UN member states cited concerns over the
Michael Hughes: It was easy to blame the 2021 collapse of the Afghan economy on the abrupt withdrawal of foreign aid after the fall of Kabul, which overnight effectively cut the country’s GDP nearly in half. In fact, even the most advanced economies would take years to heal from the type of blow Afghanistan took
Michael Hughes: A U.S. congressionally-funded think tank, insidiously named the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), has called on Washington to boost counterterrorism operations, enhance ties with Pakistan, and conduct more lethal strikes inside Afghan territory. Although more likely to come from a national security research outfit, the USIP recommendations are not so unreasonable. But it
Michael Hughes: Anthropologist Jesse Barfield argued that throughout history Afghans never “united” in the strict sense of the term to oust an invader, they actually scattered and became ungovernable, while attacking the enemy from all different directions. This fundamental disunity embedded seeds of future discord. Of course when the infidel began exiting during the anti-Soviet jihad,
Michael Hughes: The Taliban’s archaic interpretation of Sharia has been a useful tool in crushing civil society despite the fact such discourse is in line with Islamic principles, a new research report from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute argued, as the radicals in Kabul look to eradicate opposing voices from the country. The study by researcher M. Abul
Michael Hughes: The US this week raised concerns at the UN about the recruitment and deployment of child soldiers in Afghanistan, a serious criminal activity the Taliban must cease and be held accountable for. However, officials in Washington often suffer from amnesia, forgetting that the U.S. government waived restrictions related to using children in combat
8am: Russians believe that the Taliban group is a more reliable ally than the West in the fight against ISIS. This perception stems from decades of geopolitical competition between Russia and Western countries and a longstanding game initiated by America, using Islamist hardline groups to undermine its global rivals, especially the former Soviet Union. The