Archive for the ‘Af-Pak’ Category
ISI and Afghan Insurgency: Implications for India-Pakistan Relations
Matt Waldman in a recently released Paper, “The Sun is in the Sky: The relationship between Pakistan’s ISI and Afghan Insurgents”, explores the extent of the ISI’s links and support to the problem of Afghan insurgency. Though Matt accepts that hosts of endogenous factors responsible for the emergence and sustenance of the Taliban, his interviews with insurgent field commanders in and around Kabul and Kandhar provide him with evidence to claim that the ISI orchestrates, sustains and strongly influences the movement. The research concentrates on two principal groups: the core Taliban movement lead by Mullah Omar and the Haqqani network, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani. The Paper provides elaborate details of how the strategy, funding and operations of the two groups are dominated by ISI’s priorities and interests.In Matt’s analysis Pakistan’s support for the afghan insurgency can be checked by ensuring better relations between India and Pakistan.
President Obama’s Af-Pak Public Outreach
Rarely have the messages delivered by U.S. Presidents reached the non-English speaking audience in its original form. Op-eds in local newspapers, new-feeds in primary national languages and reactions of domestic political leadership are the most common sources for the non-English populace of developing countries to access any speech delivered by the U.S. President. Such sources often tend to be opinionated and do not allow the local population to comprehend the real message.
The Obama Administration has sought to enlarge its public outreach by connecting to the common people without via medium of their governments. Given the widespread public distrust of national leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama Administration is spreading word about the President’s approach to the region in local language and through widely accessible mediums. Following President Obama’s West Point Speech last week (transcripts are available in Urdu, Dari, Pashtu and Arabic), Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has recorded two video messages for the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Secretary Clinton has directly addressed the people of the two countries in these messages with the objective of explaining President Obama’s future strategy in the region. The video message is available for downloads on the internet and mobile phones. Click to continue…