Featured Issue:
When the Obama Administration began a 60-day review of its Afghanistan strategy, a diverse group of progressive experts in development, counter-terrorism, regional politics and US politics came together to advise NSN on a set of principles that might guide both the Administration in building a new strategy and advocates in Congress, the media and the public in judging a proposed strategy. We begin from the premise that the situation in the United States, and the history and dynamics of the region, require a sharp differentiation between objectives that we might like to achieve and a baseline of what must be achieved for our national interests and our moral obligations – to our military, our citizens and the people of Afghanistan.
Report
15 September 2011
This week insurgents grabbed headlines by staging a nearly 20-hour attack in Kabul. This incident is the latest in a string of acts of violence aimed at creating a sense of instability in the country. These attacks underscore the challenges facing transition to Afghan leadership and - as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen have said - the importance of its continuing on pace. Part of that process must be finding a political solution that can incorporate all parts of Afghan society. We see small signs of progress in the lead-up to two international conferences on Afghanistan this fall - but negotiations with the Taliban will be long, tough and characterized by a mixture of progress and setbacks along the way to an agreement.
Report
19 July 2011
For the last week, targeted violence aimed at derailing the transition to Afghan control has plagued Afghanistan. In the wake of the death of Ahmed Wali Karzai, head of the provincial council in Kandahar province and brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, as well as another high-level assassination, the U.S. and the broader International Security Assistance Force should focus on the need to improve governance so that it relies on institutions, not individuals. Such a shift can assist the transition that began this week, symbolized by the promotion of Marine General John Allen to the commander of forces in Afghanistan and initial transfers of provincial control to Afghans. If the Afghan government is going to keep control of the country, the focus should shift to finding a political solution, both among the parties in Afghanistan – including the Taliban – and regionally. As NSN Senior Adviser Maj. Gen. (ret.) Paul Eaton notes, “Rebalancing American and ISAF efforts from an almost-exclusively military focus to a more balanced approach that values diplomacy and political solutions is long overdue.”
News
The Times and Democrat 5 July 2011
