Two items of note:
Weak Opposition to Karzai, So Far…
The Afghan Election Commission started excepting nominations for presidential and provincial offices for the upcoming August elections and one thing seems clear, incumbent President Hamid Karzai appears to have a strong chance at retaining his position. No other major candidate has so far put in papers to run against the current president and one of the main figures of the opposition National Front party, Deputy President Mohammad Qasim Fahim, left the group and thrown his support behind Karzai. Nevertheless, Karzai should be challenged by at least one or two of these fellows; former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, former finance ministers Ashraf Ghani and Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, and Nangarhar Province governor Gul Agha Sherzai. Incumbents always have an advantage and this appears to be even more true in a young, fractious democratic government, of which, Afghanistan is definitely one.
Trilateral Talks: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan
The United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are not the only 3 countries holding meetings on ways to bring stability to the region, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was in Kabul to meet with his counterparts in Afghanistan and Pakistan to discuss regional issues between the three states. Mottaki, Afghan FM Rangeen Dadfar Spanta and Pakistan’s FM Shah Mehmood Qureshi reportedly discussed efforts to combat terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as ways for the three countries to cooperate on a higher level. Though in many ways these state’s have caused each other more pain their pleasure in recent history, they nevertheless have an opportunity to solve, or at least work on, many problems which trouble them all. I believe a more productive relationship, based on common enemies and problems, could not only help the three participating states, but also take some of the burden off the US and NATO. Iran’s FM Mottaki apparently agrees, stating “regional issues could be resolved with regional solutions.”
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
