Flipping the Taliban
Christia, Fotini; Semple, Michael
Foreign Affairs, July/August 2009, v88, #4, pp34-45
"President Barack Obama's proposed deployment of 21,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan is necessary to tip the balance of power against the Taliban. But it will not be enough. Washington and its allies must accompany the move with a political "surge," an effort to persuade large groups of insurgents to give up their fight. This can be done: in Afghanistan, battles are often decided by defections rather than fighting, and for many members of the Taliban, the insurgency is less a matter of ideology than a way of life."
Fotini Christia is Assistant Professor of Political Science at MIT. Michael Semple is a regional specialist focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan, with extensive experience dialoguing with the Taliban.
Go to the article (via EbscoHost)
Password required
A23/04-09. Posted August 27, 2009
|
