“No Friend of Iran”: Tehran’s Responses to the Taliban’s Return to Power in Afghanistan
Part of Tehran’s outreach to the Taliban has been to blame Afghanistan’s chaos on the US. But, past events suggest that the Taliban is no friend of Iran.
Reflections on Afghanistan: War is Folly for the Weak on Wisdom and Will
Afghanistan is not the graveyard of empires, it is the graveyard of strategy.
Anarchy and Occupation: The US in the Mexican-American War and in Afghanistan
The lack of domination structures through which imperial or state power can be exerted strains, and renders futile, the capabilities of the occupying force.
Who Are the Taliban?
We still do not know exactly how the Taliban will rule Afghanistan. Yet, experience suggests that many Afghans have much to fear – especially women and the Shi’a.
Thucydides in Afghanistan: Imperial Abstraction, Moral Displacement, and Hubris
Astonishment at the fall of Kabul reflect habits of imperial abstraction, moral displacement and hubris that are prefigured in Thucydides writings about ancient Greece.
Afghanistan’s ‘Liberal’ History: Back to Year Zero?
An earlier, more liberal, Afghanistan possessed strong female figures and dynamic student societies in a civil society accustomed to the concept of protest.
No Clear Winner, One Clear Loser in Afghanistan
The Afghanistan conflict has provided the necessary dynamics of instability without stable institutions, making it an inviting strategic space for competing parties.
Opinion – The Fate and the Folly of the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Whether or not America’s allies are willing to go along with Biden and bet on America’s enlightened return is the critical question in the wake of Afghanistan’s fall.
Opinion – What If Afghanistan Had Its Own Gandhi?
The lesson of Afghanistan seen through the eyes of Gandhi is that one cannot expect that peace, stability, nationalism, and conflict resolution can be enforced through violence.
Review – Warlord Survival: The Delusion of Statebuilding in Afghanistan
Malejacq’s book presents a lively and detailed narrative of four significant ‘warlords’ and how they demonstrate the failings of external statebuilding in Afghanistan.
