Intra-Afghan peace talks
WITH the last hitch removed, the elusive intra-Afghan dialogue is now likely to take place next week to discuss the country’s political future that could bring an end to the…
Shockwaves out of UAE
UNMARRIED men and women may live together, alcohol restrictions are gone, and honour killings will be judged a crime just as any other. This official decree took effect last week in the…
The principal contradiction
After forty years of conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistani policy towards that country can be summed up in two words: utter failure. If security is the primary lens through which Pakistani…
Talking Afghan peace
IN what is being described as the most tangible step forward in the Afghan peace talks, US officials and the Afghan Taliban seem to have come close to a deal…
Saving Afghanistan – again
Take a good, long look at the euphoric welcome being afforded to the talks process between the United States and the Taliban. There can be no two ways about it.…
Revisiting history
The Pakistani state’s claims of hybrid warfare or fifth generation war may be debatable. But the definition of what the Americans have been doing in Afghanistan since 2001 is not…
Way to go
On Wednesday, September 27, our foreign minister was at his best. He minced no words and candidly poured his heart out – and that to in a foreign country. He…
Inglorious empire
When Eduard Shevardnadze, the Soviet foreign minister, visited Kabul and Islamabad in 1989 to discuss a peaceful transition from the Afghan war, the militants he sought to meet refused to…
The anatomy of a Taliban ceasefire
After months of regional stalemate, two events in June offer a potential roadmap for achieving a working peace. The first was the Taliban’s decision to accept Afghan President Ghani’s offer…
Let’s not point fingers
The recent visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has once again triggered a debate over Pakistan’s Afghan policy, something that has been debated in the past as well.…
