Registan’s Afghanistan News & Analysis Archive

Afghanistan news and analysis have been frequently featured at Registan, especially since 2006. Registan’s coverage of Afghanistan has primarily examined ISAF’s efforts to stabilize the country and US policy in South and Central Asia through the prism of Afghanistan. Several Registan contributors, including editors Nathan Hamm and Joshua Foust, have worked as full time analysts covering researching Afghan socio-cultural issues and the effects of military operations and Afghan society on one another.

Some of Joshua Foust’s essays and articles on Afghanistan that originally appeared on Registan have been collected and reworked into a book, available in print and digital form from Amazon.

The Danger of Over-Generalizing

by Joshua Foust
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Frank Jacobs has a really interesting piece in the Opinionator about border areas and government control. But there exists another type of border, one that doesn’t reflect back our image. In vampiric asymmetry, it offers only the void. There are no barriers, no officials, no capitals on the other side. The world as we know [...]

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The Failed Negotiation Opportunity

by Joshua Foust
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Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai have a typically penetrating story about dissent in the Taliban ranks over negotiating with the U.S.: Disclosure of the leadership’s secret talks in Qatar—confirmed and driven home by the group’s opening of a liaison office in the emirate’s capital, Doha—has devastated the insurgency’s ranks. The previously unified movement is splitting, [...]

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The Great Iran Hype, by Seth Jones

by Joshua Foust

Seth Jones thinks we need to think about al Qaeda in Iran. Virtually unnoticed, since late 2001, Iran has held some of al Qaeda’s most senior leaders. Several of these operatives, such as Yasin al-Suri, an al Qaeda facilitator, have moved recruits and money from the Middle East to central al Qaeda in Pakistan. Others, such [...]

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Talking Politics in Afghanistan

by Joshua Foust

On Tuesday, I had the unexpected pleasure of sitting on a panel with Michael O’Hanlon and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul McHale to talk about the future of American strategy in Afghanistan. That’s the video of the event. In case you don’t want to sit through 90 minutes of jabbering, I’m pasting my comments [...]

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Crusaders, Vietnam, Whatever: Inside the Thomas Johnson Afghanistan Kaleidoscope

by Joshua Foust

My favorite ABD Professor of Afghanistan things of all time — seen here making things up, comparing the Taliban to Irish people or maybe Native Americans, and talking very ignorantly about Vietnam — is back. The Vietnam thing continues in his latest article, co-written with eternal collaborator M Chris Mason, for the AfPak Channel. “Our [...]

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Can You Tell Me How to Get to 2014? (Part 4 of 4)

by Dan Smock

This is the last in a four-part series where I hate on Big Bird. Not really, but see Part 1 here if you’re just now joining us. Sesame Street has made its way to Afghanistan, it’s called Bagch-e-SimSim, and it’s the perfect example to illustrate at a micro level what’s wrong with the reconstruction and [...]

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Can You Tell Me How to Get to 2014 (part 3 of 4)

by Dan Smock

This is the third in a four-part series where I hate on Big Bird. Not really, but see Part 1 here if you’re just now joining us. Sesame Street has made its way to Afghanistan, it’s called Bagch-e-SimSim, and it’s the perfect example to illustrate at a micro level what’s wrong with the reconstruction and [...]

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Guest Post: Why is the Afghan government being excluded from Qatar?

by Joshua Foust

By Grey Maggiano   Much has been made of the recent announcement that the U.S. and the Taliban may begin negotiations through a Taliban proxy office in Qatar, but one question raised by the Taliban’s public statement has gone largely unaddressed: Was the exclusion of the Afghan Government from any potential negotiations intentional? And if [...]

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Talking the Taliban Office

by Joshua Foust

I was on WNYC’s The Takeaway this morning talking about the politics of the Taliban opening a political office in Qatar. On Tuesday, after months of denying it was interested in participating in formal talks to end the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban indicated it would consider opening a political office in Qatar. A political [...]

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SACEUR Inspires Me: Wherein I Repeat Myself

by Dan Smock

I Blame Foust So I’ve been on vacation for a little while, and the urge to do anything rather than document another lap around the drain that is 2014 was pretty much overpowering. And I do mean anything. You should see my socks. They have never been so organized. This also means I’ve been avoiding things [...]

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