Anatol Lieven

What Chance for Afghanistan?

Ukraine—The Way Out

Ukraine—The Way Out

What is truly strange and terrible about the looming disaster in Ukraine is that all the leading players already know and agree about what the only solution can be, even if they disagree on the details and the timing.

Pakistan: The Mess We Can’t Ignore

The New Afghan Ruins

All these years in Afghanistan, NATO has actually been subsidizing the Taliban’s war effort.

Afghanistan at Risk

Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s refusal to sign a basing agreement with the United States is putting at risk the willingness of the US and the West to remain engaged in Afghanistan at all.

Pakistan's Afghan Problem

Many Pakistanis view the Taliban (and Afghans in general) as greedy, treacherous, primitive, and fanatical savages. For the Taliban, the Pakistani state and military (and non-Pashtun Pakistanis in general) are decadent, corrupt, treacherous, brutal, and greedy oppressors. Each side regards the other as inherently unreliable.

Afghanistan: Whose Peace?

If the US pulls out of Afghanistan completely and India pours in arms, money, and advisers, then it seems certain that Pakistan would ramp up its support for the Taliban. What all this outside “aid” would do—as it has so often in Afghanistan’s tragic past—is ensure that the civil war continues, perhaps indefinitely.

Afghanistan: The Way to Peace

Our War Against the Pashtuns

The war in Afghanistan has always been an Afghan civil war, as well as a war between the Taliban and Western forces. The fact is that a plurality of Afghans are rural Pashtuns. By tipping the military balance in favor of the non-Pashtun nationalities, the US and NATO intervention has motivated Pashtuns to fight against the western forces. The tragic reality is that the presence and actions of the US forces themselves have contributed to Taliban support. If there was any doubt about that before the burning of the Korans and the massacre by Sergeant Robert Bales in Kandahar, there can be no doubt now.

Afghanistan & Money

Afghanistan: The Best Way to Peace

Not Bad, Just Sad