Tag: Pakistan
Afghanistan: why negotiate?
As global attention focuses on the uncertainty in Egypt, the seemingly-ceaseless conflict in Syria, and Edward Snowden’s world tour to seek asylum, another development has gone largely unnoticed – US efforts to negotiate with the Taliban. As predicted, it appears that these talks will proceed, despite the recent attempts by the Karzai government to derail them over a dispute about a Taliban office and flag in Qatar.
US and allied forces are set to withdraw from Afghanistan sometime in 2014. As relations with the Afghan government deteriorate, the withdrawal may come sooner than many expected. As a result, US policy makers have deemed it imperative for there to be some sort of a political process that will ensure the security and stability of both Afghanistan and the broader region. They have increasingly made overtures to Taliban leaders. On Monday, the New America Foundation hosted a panel on what can be expected from these developments and examined the broader context of trying to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban in a study titled, “Talking to the Taliban: Hope over History?” (the complete text of their study can be found here). Read more
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Peace picks July 1-5
Sudden summer doldrums, but a few good picks:
1. Moderating Extremism in Pakistan Working with Women and Youth to Prevent and Resolve Conflict, Women’s Foreign Policy Group, Monday, July 1 / 12:00 pm
Venue: Wilderness Society
1615 M Street, NW Washington, DC
Speaker: Mossarat Qadeem
Mossarat Qadeem founded PAIMAN Alumni Trust, a nonprofit group promoting sociopolitical and economic empowerment of marginalized Pakistanis. With PAIMAN, she established the country’s first center for conflict transformation and peacebuilding, which has helped thousands of young people and women across the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pukhtunkwa province to prevent and resolve conflict. Working directly with mothers of radicalized youths, Qadeem helps to rescue young men who are being exploited by extremists and ensures that they receive job training and education to help them to reintegrate into their communities. Qadeem is also the national coordinator of Aman-o-Nisa, a coalition of women leaders throughout Pakistan striving to moderate violent extremism and promote understanding among diverse ethnic, religious, and political groups. Previously, Qadeem taught political science at the University of Peshawar, where she also served as assistant director of the Women’s Study Centre. Qadeem helped found the regional South Asia Women’s Peace Forum and has developed her own training materials on women’s political participation and conflict transformation. She is also a member of the Women Waging Peace Network of The Institute for Inclusive Security, which supports more than 2,000 women leaders around the globe. Qadeem has published two books, written many articles, and produced documentaries on topics including India-Pakistan relations and women’s (particularly mothers’) experiences with conflict and extremism. She holds master’s degrees in international politics and gender and development from the Institute of Social Sciences in the Netherlands. Read more
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Same name, different challenges
Earlier this week news broke that the US and the Taliban had agreed to meet for direct peace talks. While President Karzai’s administration has protested these negotiations and delayed them, it appears likely the parties will meet in coming weeks. The outcome of these talks could significantly affect the future of US-Afghan relations and might help determine the nature and timeline of the US military withdrawal.
Some argue that Pakistan’s role in helping the US pursue the Afghan Taliban has driven their willingness to negotiate. Yet, Pakistan is simultaneously dealing with its own version of Islamic extremism, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or the Pakistani Taliban. Aqab Malik, a scholar at Pakistan’s National Defense University provided insight into the planned negotiations during a presentation this past Thursday at Johns Hopkins SAIS, where he is a visiting professor. Representing his own views (and not the official stance of the Pakistani government) Malik, an expert on both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, gave an overview of security concerns and discussed the implications of including the Taliban in the future Afghan state. Read more
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The cat is out of the bag
President Obama yesterday announced in Berlin his intention to negotiate with Moscow a reduction of up to one-third in strategic nuclear weapons and an unspecified reduction in tactical nukes deployed in Europe. This ranks as bold, and good. It will certainly be welcomed in Germany and the rest of the European Union, where nuclear weapons have never been popular. The Russians will be reluctant, as they have come to view tactical nuclear weapons as part of their defense against superior Western forces (the opposite was true during the Cold War). As my SAIS colleague Eric Edelman notes, they are also concerned about Chinese, French and British nuclear forces, which could be increased even as Washington and Moscow draw down.
There is also the question of whether we can maintain the credibility of our nuclear deterrent if we draw down to 1000 strategic nukes. My sense is that this is more than adequate for the purpose, but Eric doubts that. He worries about the credibility of our “extended” nuclear umbrella, which covers selected allies. I’d certainly be prepared to hear their complaints, if they have any. My guess is that most of our allies would like to see a further drawdown of nuclear forces.
Former Defense Secretary Bill Perry in a powerful piece about his own personal journey to advocating elimination of nuclear weapons makes a crucial point: Read more
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Peace picks June 17-21
1. The Future of Stability Operations: Lessons from Afghanistan, American Security Project, Monday June 17 / 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Venue: American Security Project
1100 New York Avenue, NW · Suite 710W, Washington, DC
7th Floor West Tower
Speakers: Sloan Mann, Eythan Sontag, Frank Kearney III, Howard Clark
The international community has learned a great deal about how to conduct stability operations in the last 12 years. This event will be a fact-based discussion with leading experts on stability operations. The panel will discuss key lessons from the experience in Afghanistan and how they can be applied to future conflict environments.
RSVP through email to:
events@americansecurityproject.org Read more
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Peace Picks, June 10-14
1. Drones and the Future of Counterterrorism in Pakistan, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Monday, June 10 / 5:00pm – 6:30pm
Venue: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036
Speakers: Frederic Grare, Samina Ahmed
The future use of drones in Pakistan is uncertain after President Obama’s recent speech on national security. Washington has now satisfied some of the demands of Pakistan’s incoming prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. But while drone strikes were seen in Islamabad as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, they were also arguably an effective counterterrorism mechanism. Samina Ahmed will discuss the future use of drones in Pakistan. Frederic Grare will moderate.
Register for the event here:
http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/06/10/drones-and-future-of-counterterrorism-in-pakistan/g7f0
2. Tyranny of Consensus: A Reception with Author Janne E. Nolan, Century Foundation, Monday, June 10 / 5:00pm – 6:30pm
Venue: Stimson Center, 1111 19th Street Northwest, 12th Floor, Washington D.C., DC 20036
Speakers: Janne E. Nolan
In “Tyranny of Consensus,” Nolan examines three cases-the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the proxy war with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa-to find the limitations of American policy-makers in understanding some of the important developments around the world. Assisted by a working group of senior practitioners and policy experts, Nolan finds that it is often the impulse to protect the already arrived at policy consensus that is to blame for failure. Without access to informed discourse or a functioning “marketplace of ideas,” policy-makers can find themselves unable or unwilling to seriously consider possible correctives even to obviously flawed strategies.
Register for the event here:
http://tcf.org/news_events/detail/tyranny-of-consensus-a-reception-with-author-janne-e.-nolan
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