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Published on April 16, 2018 in The Diplomat Magazine 

Syria, North Korea, and Yemen have largely dominated headlines. But Afghanistan also remains in the global conscience. If anything, the much-needed international focus on the campaign against the Taliban has outlined how difficult the fight has become, despite our steady military gains. Frustrated with what many are mistakenly calling a quagmire, international commentators either advocate for a quick-fix peace deal to withdraw from Afghanistan or engaging in a more intense military campaign. The latter is an understandable response, but even so, it is far from a complete remedy.

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Published on February 13, 2018 in The Diplomat Magazine

The land Afghans call home is diversely populated, geographically landlocked, politically and economically undeveloped, and unfortunately located in a predatory neighborhood where at least one of its neighbors sees its raison d’être as being partly dependent on instability in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, other state and nonstate actors — such as extremists, terrorists, and drug traffickers — have exploited Afghanistan’s vulnerabilities to their advantage, and they will continue to do so alone or together in common self interest. Continue reading

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Published on March 28, 2018 in The Diplomat Magazine

In “The U.S. Needs to Talk to the Taliban” a New York Times op-ed run on March 19, Borhan Osman mistakenly reduces the popularly elected National Unity Government (NUG) of Afghanistan to one of the internal “factions.” To the contrary, the NUG enjoys a broad popular mandate and support. Like any democracy, Afghanistan is hardly devoid of political differences, which underpin the very essence of democracy: recall tensions in the U.S. two-party system or in the multiparty coalition governments of Europe.Continue reading