4 Items

Syrian refugees in Lebanon staying in small cramped quarters, 3 September 2012.

VOA Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Philadelphia Inquirer

Between a Rock, a Hard Place, and a Humanitarian Crisis

| March 9, 2014

"...While politicians at home and overseas focus on how to help end the war through anything short of direct intervention, it's time for the international community — both public and private sectors — to focus on long-term strategies to support the growing Syrian refugee population."

GHŌR, Afghanistan: May 28, 2012, Former Taliban fighters line up to handover their rifles to the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan during a reintegration ceremony at the provincial governor's compound.

DoD Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Christian Science Monitor

Pakistan's Release of Taliban Prisoners—An Empty Deal

| November 12, 2013

At the request of Afghan officials, Pakistan has reportedly released almost 40 Taliban combatants, supposedly to help spur peace negotiations. But experience shows this is wishful thinking. These prisoner releases give the Taliban something they want, while providing nothing in return.

News - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Marisa Porges on Syria, Russia, the U.S. and the Rebels

| September 18, 2013

Did the U.S. threat of force push Bashar Assad's regime to relinquish its chemical weapons? International Security Program Fellow Marisa Porges isn't so sure. Porges dives into the complicated situation in Syria, analyzing the interests of various players including the Russians, the United States, and the hundreds of individual groups that comprise the Syrian resistance

First stage in the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, 20 October 1986.

Wikimedia Commons

Report - International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence

Talking to the Taliban: Hope over History?

| July 2013

Talking to the Taliban: Hope over History? provides a history of attempts to talk to the Taliban. The publication of the report coincides with the announcement that the United States will begin direct negotiations with the Taliban within days. The report charts the history of talks with the Taliban and their forebears. It explains that such talks are nothing new and that contacts have existed between the Taliban and the West for many years and argues that attempts to negotiate with the Taliban since 2001 have been characterised by wishful thinking, bad timing, poor management and the 'chaos of good intentions'.