Posted by seumasach on December 4, 2013
M.K.Bhadrakumar
4th December, 2013
The Iranian Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday advising Kabul not to proceed with the signing of the proposed status of forces agreement [SOFA] with Washington leading to the establishment of the American and NATO military bases in Afghanistan comes at a defining moment.
Posted in Afghanistan | Tagged: End of empire, Iranian diplomacy, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on November 26, 2013
M.K.Bhadrakumar
26th November, 2013
The tough-talking, no-nonsense US National Security Advisor Susan Rice met her match at the presidential palace in Kabul Monday evening over a “working dinner”. One would have loved to be a fly on the wall. But there was no need, because no sooner than the pomegranates and grapes were eaten after the rich meal of pilav and kebabs and Rice reported back to Washington her conversation with President Hamid Karzai, which lasted several hours, the White house released a curtly worded readout on what transpired.
Posted in Afghanistan, Global peace process | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 31, 2013
The role of the US bases remains unclear. I would expect the SCO to play a major role in stabilising Afghanistan but perhaps there is an as yet undeclared US-Russian agreement here.
M.K.Bhadrakumar
30th October, 2013
There has been swift follow-up on the talks in Washington on September 23 between President Barack Obama and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif regarding the urgency of kickstarting the peace talks with the Taliban. The meeting in London earlier today hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron brought together Sharif and the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, which is leading to a breakthrough.
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Posted by seumasach on June 29, 2013
“Details of Britain’s potential long-term role emerged during Mr Cameron’s visit. He backed up the view of Lieutenant-General Nick Carter, deputy commander of Nato’s forces, who said earlier today that the west should have opened political talks with the Taliban a decade ago.”
Now they tell us!
29th June, 2013
The Prime Minister, on a visit to the country to mark Armed Forces Day, said the settlement put in place after the Allied invasion in 2001, which drove the Taliban out of power, “could have been better arranged.”
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Posted by seumasach on June 19, 2013
And so it was that 12 years of bloody war have culminated in talks with the Taliban, talks which could have averted the war in the first place.
Jim Lobe
19th June, 2013
WASHINGTON – Nearly 12 years after the United States ousted the Taliban from power, the White House announced on Tuesday that the US will begin formal talks with the militant Islamist group in Qatar later this week as part of Afghanistan’s national reconciliation process. The announcement, which coincided with ceremonies marking the formal transfer of primary security responsibility from US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces to their Afghan counterparts, preceded a statement issued shortly afterwards by the Taliban itself in which it implicitly disassociated itself from Al-Qaeda.
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Posted by seumasach on January 29, 2013
M.K.Bhadrakumar
29th January, 2013
The involvement of China in the decade-long war on terror in Afghanistan by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been virtually nil. This was so despite the Western alliance’s repeated urgings on Beijing to raise its head above the parapet and become an active participant.
Posted in Afghanistan, Multipolar world | Tagged: strategic partnership between US and China | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on November 6, 2012
6th November, 2012
The question is not really whether the Afghan people want more religion. It is rather that they shall simply have more religion, no matter their own wish or preference. The United States thinks so, and apparently the Afghan ruling elite that it created in Kabul ten years ago thinks so. That just about settles it.
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Posted by seumasach on October 11, 2012
11th October, 2012
Russia has warned that it will stop cooperating with NATO in Afghanistan after 2014 unless the Western military alliance gets UN Security Council authorization for a new mission in the war-torn country.
Posted in Afghanistan | Tagged: Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 20, 2012
Posted in Afghanistan | Tagged: End of empire | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on August 26, 2012
M.K.Bhadrakumar
25th August, 2012
The great game in Central Asia has a history of occasionally turning rough. Turkey may have become its latest victim.
Posted in Afghanistan, Multipolar world | Tagged: kyrgyzstan, neo-Ottoman imperialism, Russian diplomacy, the great game | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on June 4, 2012
Russia is gearing up to play an effective role in world affairs. Its assertive stance on Syria and Iran can be expected to extend to Pakistan and Central Asia. Russia kept its participation over the NATO summit on a low-key and saw to it that none of the Central Asian leaders who were invited – from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – attended either. Meanwhile, Moscow also hosted a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Putin is undertaking visits to Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan during the week ahead and is virtually launching his Eurasian project.
M.K.Bhadrakumar
2nd June, 2012
The back-to-back visits to Pakistan this week by China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and the Russian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, are rich in political symbolism and strategic content.
Posted in Afghanistan, Multipolar world | Tagged: Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russian diplomacy, the Eurasian Union | Leave a Comment »
