Why does this page look this way?
It appears that you are using either an older, classic Web browser or a hand-held device that allows you to view our content but may not work with every feature of our site. If you are using an older browser, please upgrade for the best experience.
![]()
Home |
Site Index |
FAQs |
Contact |
RSS
|
Podcast
Navigation
home > by publication type > op-eds > No Substitute for American Resolve
| Author: | Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia |
|---|
August 17-23, 2007 - Vol. XIX, No. 26
Friday Times
Last year’s announcement by Presidents Bush, Musharraf, and Karzai of their intention to hold joint Pak-Afghan peace jirgas reflected an emerging consensus that Afghanistan’s instability needed to be tackled with a comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign.
According to this consensus, no narrowly military or intelligence operations could be expected to defeat the crisis of confidence that threatened the post-9/11 Afghan state.
After the upsurge of violence in 2006, too many Afghans were beginning to believe that the tide had shifted in favour of the Taliban, and too many ofAfghanistan’s neighbours appeared to be hedging their bets in case of a relapse into the Afghan proxy wars of the 1990s.
In this context, the joint peace jirgas were intended to demonstrate Pak-Afghan unity against terrorism and extremism as part of the psychological campaign against a resurgent Taliban. Bringing together local and national leaders from both sides of the border could undermine the Taliban’s propagandistic claim to broad popular support or sympathy.
Sceptics, especially in Pakistan, heaped more than a fair share of scorn on the joint jirga concept. And last week’s proceedings did get off to a rocky start, owing to highly publicised no-shows by delegates from Waziristan, as well as Musharraf’s surprising last-minute decision to skip the opening ceremonies. That said, tribal and political leaders in attendance found much to discuss, and even their disagreements had the virtue of demonstrating the utility of new, open lines of communication.
![]()
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.
Complete list of CFR Books.
![]()
![]()
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at the Council.
![]()
By Region | By Issue | By Publication Type | The Think Tank | For The Media | For Educators | About CFR
Home | Site Index | FAQ | Contact | RSS | Podcast
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.

