The U.S. military, “witch burning,” negotiations with Iran, among other affairs.
Emphasis Added: The Foreign Policy Week in Fragments
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Afghanistan
Stop Registering Afghan Voters
International donors have sunk millions of dollars in an ineffectual, expensive, and easily circumvented Afghan voter registration system that is barely worthy of the name. But more importantly, the problems it is designed to address have proven completely negligible when compared to more prevalent forms of fraud such as ballot box stuffing and fraudulent counting.
Afghanistan’s Forgotten Refugees
In 2008, Seyed Hasan, a father of 6, fled his home in the Wardak province of eastern Afghanistan. Hasan’s family applied for refugee status in Turkey, but their initial claim was rejected. Over four years later, the family was finally granted refugee status. But their situation did not improve.
A Focal Points Roundtable: Is the Taliban Losing?
A panel of experts looks at the U.S. and NATO end game in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan: Avoiding Default
Although most Washington policymakers would simply prefer that Afghanistan disappear, they must still come up with a politically palatable solution regarding U.S. involvement. Here are three scenarios for how the U.S. might manage its involvement in the country between now and 2014.
Maybe David Brooks Could Teach Gen. Petraeus and the Kagans a Thing or Two About Humility
Were conservative Washington think-tankers helping determine U.S. strategy in Afghanistan?
The U.S. and Central & South Asia: Four More Years
It is time to bring the 21st century’s version of “the Great Game” to an end.
Afghan Military Killings of American Troops Underscores Absurdity of Our Afghan Adventure
Nothing is sadder than dying in a lame duck of a war — unless it’s dying at the hands of those you’re sworn to protect.
Attacks on First Responders Transform Criminality of Drone Strikes to Sadism
The CIA remains as devoted to cruelty as ever.
Curbing Corruption in Afghanistan
Governmental corruption is a huge issue in many of the countries that the United States seeks to influence. Afghanistan is only one of the more notable cases in which corruption is rampant. America has put millions into USAID and State Department projects designed to combat corruption, but there is very little to show for its efforts. To date, no high-level corruption prosecution has gone forward in Afghanistan.