Posted in Adam Garfinkle, Afghanistan, Iran on Nov 4th, 2009 No Comments »
From Adam Garfinkle
As President Obama decides how to proceed in the Afghan war, he needs to add one more variable that is rarely mentioned: Iranian determination to acquire nuclear weapons. An ongoing Afghanistan campaign means that resort to force against Iran would be tantamount to starting a second war. The politics being what they are, [...]
Posted in Afghanistan, Iran, Raymond Tanter, Taliban on Nov 2nd, 2009 No Comments »
From Raymond Tanter
The role of Iran in fueling insurgency in Iraq, particularly attacks against U.S. forces, has been well-documented and forms one front in Iran’s proxy war against the United States. Receiving much less attention than Iraq, is the role Iran has played in supporting anti-NATO insurgents in Afghanistan as a second front against U.S. [...]
Posted in Afghanistan, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Matthew Levitt, Philip Carl Salzman, Taliban on Oct 10th, 2009 2 Comments »
From Matthew Levitt
The Washington Post reports that some in the administration see the Lebanese Hezbollah as a possible model for transformation of the Taliban. Describing the Taliban as a movement “deeply rooted” in Afghanistan, much like Hezbollah is in Lebanon, proponents of a Hezbollah model for the Taliban see a scenario in which the Taliban [...]
Posted in Afghanistan, Caucasus, Central Asia, Michael Reynolds, Russia, Taliban, Walter Laqueur on Aug 31st, 2009 1 Comment »
From Michael Reynolds
The other week over at ForeignPolicy.com, in a post titled “The ’safe haven’ myth,” Stephen M. Walt offered six reasons to be skeptical of the argument that a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan would pose a significant threat to the United States. On the same website, Peter Bergen rebutted Walt. Running through Walt’s six reasons one [...]
Posted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Walter Laqueur on Apr 17th, 2009 Comments Off
From Walter Laqueur
President Obama in his charm offensive in Europe and Turkey said all the right things—about a new peaceful world order, about a world without nuclear weapons, about Turkey’s greatness, about America’s responsibility to take a lead solving the global financial crisis because it began in the United States, about America not being at [...]
Posted in Afghanistan, Arab Gulf, Geopolitics, Iran, Martin Kramer, Pakistan, Terminology on Mar 2nd, 2009 1 Comment »
From Martin Kramer
The appointment of Dennis Ross as “Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for The Gulf and Southwest Asia” (announcement here) has caused some puzzlement, in part because the geographic focus of his title seems fuzzy. This is especially so for “Southwest Asia.”
Posted in Afghanistan, Demography, Intelligence, Iran, Iraq, Military, Yemen on Nov 18th, 2008 Comments Off
From MESH Admin
Some of the many interactive geography quizzes on the web ask visitors to identify the countries and capitals of the Middle East. We assume MESH readers have no problem there, so we’ve collected links to more challenging quizzes. There’s no end to learning.
MESH Pointers
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