Obama Administration

Getting the hard core Taliban to concede the fight without loss of face is preferable to destroying them. The latter course is rendered risky by the linkages between the Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban and Punjabi Taliban and their penetration of the Pakistani state and society.

• Ali Ahmed
• December 23, 2009
• Issue Brief

Obama’s signal that the United States seeks to exit in 18 months will be viewed with scepticism by fence sitters in Afghanistan who will identify the victor as the one who endures.

• Shanthie Mariet D’Souza
• December 14, 2009
• IDSA Comments

Ideally, ISAF and NATO should concentrate on urban population centres along with the ANA, and the ANA should also deploy outside the towns and cities to dominate the hinterland and crack down on Taliban controlled areas.

• Harinder Singh
• December 11, 2009
• IDSA Comments

By giving away Asia to China on a platter, the Obama Administration’s posture undermines its traditional allies (Japan, South Korea, and Australia) as well as its new partners like India.

• Rahul Mishra
• December 09, 2009
• IDSA Comments

Long term thinking is necessary to ensure that the gains of the Singh-Obama Knowledge Initiative are successfully channelled into a Singh-Obama Innovation Economy Co-operation Initiative.

• Cherian Samuel
• December 04, 2009
• IDSA Comments

Apart from the reluctance to move beyond viewing the India-US relationship through the prism of US-China or even US-Pakistan ties, the Indian political leadership and the strategic community have so far failed to define India’s role in the growing partnership with the United States.

• Shanthie Mariet D’Souza
• December 03, 2009
• IDSA Comments

The draft deal is envisaged as a test of Iran’s intentions, and from the Iranian point of view as a test of Western countries’ assurance to facilitate its peaceful nuclear programme.

• M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi
• November 05, 2009
• IDSA Comments

The US may have satiated its desire for vengeance but risks losing sight of its objectives due to liberal atavism, inconstancy, pusillanimity and operational ineptitude.

• Kartik Bommakanti
• November 03, 2009
• IDSA Comments

America’s new strategy in Afghanistan needs to be based on the concept of `connect–hold–build’, where the ground troops surely and silently `connect’ with the local population.

• Harinder Singh
• October 22, 2009
• IDSA Comments

Pakistan faces a new challenge with the United States advocating privatization of security to deal with the country’s internal security challenges, a move that would also increase the level of American monitoring and supervisory capabilities.

• Shantanu Chakrabarti
• October 13, 2009
• IDSA Comments