Afghanistan’s jihadi insurgents are ready to give America what it wants: defeat without humiliation. In the peace process now underway with the Afghan Taliban, one-and-a-half significant U.S. interests are at stake. The “half” is the only real hang-up to signing a deal and bringing home American troops right now. READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN FOREIGN...Read More

It is still on balance worth the United States hanging on in Afghanistan, for a variety of reasons. There is no chance of military victory over the Taliban. Nor, without a U.S. commitment to withdraw its troops and accept a major share of power for the Taliban, does there seem any serious chance of a...Read More

The most important result of Osama bin Laden’s death is likely to be a new US approach to Afghanistan. President Obama is now essentially in a position to “declare victory and get out”, without risking too much in terms of US public and military opinion. Unfortunately, everything I know of the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan...Read More

Last month, Horst Köhler resigned as German president following a public outcry over comments he made in an interview that were widely understood as justifying war for economic reasons. Although it is clear that for someone in Köhler’s position to make the remarks he made is politically unsavvy, the disproportionate public anger his statement provoked...Read More

About 25 countries have promised to send more troops to Afghanistan in response to President Obama’s call for extra support from Nato members. But France and Germany, the two European powers who could make a real difference, remain as hesitant as ever. French and German leaders now face a painful choice. Should they finally embrace...Read More

Today, as we approach the end of the second Bush administration, with a new administration in the offing next January, and as the ‘credit crunch’ further undermines what has been the world’s sole hyper-power for the past two decades, there is a general view that, somehow, the ‘War on Terror’ is also coming to an...Read More

The title for this essay comes from the fact that contrary to the general Western perception, Pakistan does actually work as a country, not as well as many, but better than some; and that it is in no immediate danger of collapse, except as a result of misguided and reckless US policies. Pakistan is in...Read More