The alienation of ethnic Pashtuns is a major factor in the Taliban’s success in southern Afghanistan, but it could seriously impair the group’s progress in the north.
The coalition's "clear, hold, and build" strategy is failing. Before the endless demand for more troops exhausts its will to fight, the coalition should concentrate efforts on cities, key roads, and building up the Afghan army.
Despite recent research, much remains unknown Saudi prisons, rehabilitation centers, and courtrooms.
Ingushetia’s corrupt officials and extreme Islamists may be behind a suicide bomb explosion at a police station in the capital of Nazran.
In Kabul many of the issues affecting Afghanistan – ineffective governance, the Taliban's expanding influence, and a massive foreign presence – are on stark display.
The Taliban’s recent advances in Kandahar are genuine and troubling. Coalition forces can avoid the mistakes of the past by not investing resources in rural districts and shifting focus to securing the cities and the north.
Development is an integral part of the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, according to UK Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander. He highlighted the importance of increasing economic opportunity to undercut support for the Taliban.
Preventing Yemen from becoming another al-Qaeda safe haven requires more than traditional security assistance from the United States.
To prevent losing control of Afghanistan, the International Coalition must shift resources to reverse the Taliban’s progress in the North, while reinforcing the Kabul region.
Washington needs to rethink its approach to North Africa. Algeria’s decades-long struggle against domestic terrorism and its current efforts to dismantle al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb make it a key source of counterterrorism expertise, and its strategic location and energy reserves deserve sustained U.S. attention.


















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