Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Obama’s Afghanistan Strategy Panel Transcript

Afghanistan Panel Event Speakers: Kimberly Kagan, President, Institute for the Study of War LtCol Gregory Lemons, Atlantic Council Marine Corps Senior Fellow; veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq wars David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia Damon Wilson, Vice President and Director, International Security Program, Atlantic Council

Afghanistan Deadline: What Happens in July 2011?

By James Joyner

Most of the postmortems of President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy speech focused on the announcement of an 18 month timetable after which a drawdown and handover to local forces would begin. Opposition Republicans took the president at his word and warned about signaling weakness, whereas critics in his own party saw the deadline as a cynical […]

Obama Afghan Plan: A Wing and A Prayer

By Don Snow

On Tuesday night, President Obama announced his new “strategy” for Afghanistan. It held few surprises, just disappointments. The President’s rhetoric soared, as usual. The content did not. Instead, he sent the country down the road with a series of assumptions and plans that can be called, at best, a wing and a prayer.

Behind Obama’s Afghanistan Decision

By Kurt Volker

All of Washington – and much of the world – was waiting to hear President Obama’s Tuesday night speech about the war in Afghanistan.

Who’s Really Running Pakistan?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

From his former incarnation as strategic adviser to Pakistan’s politico-religious parties, the one-time Pakistani intelligence chief Hamid Gul has resurfaced as de facto minister of propaganda and disinformation for the Taliban insurgents. In a dramatic reincarnation for the “meray mutabiq” (“my opinion”) program on Geo television, Gul said the Taliban has 88,000 troops and 35,000 […]

How Iraq Could Win the War in Afghanistan

By Richard Miniter and Sebestyén Gorka

As strategists and commentators dissect President Obama’s West Point speech, the conversation all too often gets stuck on troop levels. What is missing is a strategic assessment and a willingness to transfer America’s hard-won lessons learned in Iraq, especially in the Al Anbar province, to Afghanistan.


Obama’s Afghanistan Speech: Reactions From Around the World

By James Joyner

President Obama’s speech outlining his Afghanistan exit strategy was much anticipated.  It was addressed to the American people, of course, but also to our NATO and ISAF allies and the people in Afghanistan and its neighbors.  Naturally, not everyone is pleased.

Certain Obama, Uncertain Allies

By Shuja Nawaz

There is no doubt about it now. This is Obama’s War. He took full ownership of it last night. From the history to the conduct of operations, warts and all. He acknowledged how and why the United States went into Afghanistan, why it has stayed, and why it will leave under his timetable, with all […]

Singh’s U.S. Visit: Were Expectations Met?

By Shikha Bhatnagar

For the week leading up to the Prime Minister of India’s arrival to Washington, DC, the first State Visit for the Obama Administration, the anticipation in this city was noticeable, a temporary relief from the gloomy winter in an even gloomier economy.  Policymakers and pundits in the city and region described the importance of this […]

Prime Minister Singh’s Objectives

By Frank Wisner

Although Prime Minister Singh had met President Obama earlier, they did not have the time together needed to take stock of each other and create the basis for a common understanding of the issues which preoccupy our two nations.  The Indian Prime Minister attaches special importance to the relationship with the United States, and he […]

The Great Hype Forward

By Manvendra Singhwas

Any Indian state visit that runs into an important anniversary is always a difficult act to live up to. And that precisely was the context of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recently concluded Washington trip. The first Indian head of government interaction with the Obama dispensation was held in the days before the first anniversary of […]

A “Defining Partnership” Renewed

By Rani Mullen

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s official visit to Washington D.C. was hailed as a success by both sides.  Though the visit did not culminate in the United States operationalizing the 2005 civilian nuclear deal, the meetings between the two heads of state went a great way towards reaffirming that the United States values this […]

Where is the Indispensability?

By Tariq Fatemi

The Obama White House’s first state guest was the Indian Prime Minister, which was not surprising given that India is the big success story of the post-Cold war era that appears destined for an increasingly important global role.

Pakistan and India: Common Threat Needs Common Defense

By Pervez Hoodbhoy

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says Pakistan is “compiling hard evidence of India’s involvement” in terrorist attacks on Pakistan’s public and its armed forces. If he and the Interior Minister are correct, then we must conclude that the Indians are psychotics possessed with a death wish or, perhaps, plain stupid. While India’s assistance for […]

Obama Faces Ghost of LBJ in Tonight’s Speech

By Don Snow

President Obama has apparently reached his decision on Afghanistan, which he will explain to the public on Tuesday night. If early leaks intended to get us more used to–and presumably comfortable with–the content are correct, he is going to give General McChrystal most of what he wants, although with some time constraints (the “off ramps”) […]

Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Needs a New Security Conference

By Alexandros Petersen

Alexandros Petersen, Dinu Patriciu Fellow for Transatlantic Energy Security and associate director of the Eurasia Energy Center at the Atlantic Council, was interviewed by Leyla Tagiyeva of Azerbaijan’s News.Az on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.