James Dobbins and James J. Shinn, coauthors of Afghan Peace Talks: A Primer, discuss the relationships between al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as the obstacles and possible outcomes of peace negotiations.

Two documentaries on the Afghan war, Restrepo and Armadillo, show how a combination of overwhelming military resources and aggressive counterinsurgency ultimately leads to frustration on the battlefield.

James Dobbins and James J. Shinn, coauthors of Afghan Peace Talks: A Primer, discuss the relationships between al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as the obstacles and possible outcomes of peace negotiations.

This detailed New York Times editorial on Afghanistan spells out five strategic issues that must be addressed before the conflict can reach a "minimally successful end."

The deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan comes to an end amid renewed debate about the U.S. endgame there and whether the nearly decade-long conflict has achieved its goals.

Two documentaries on the Afghan war, Restrepo and Armadillo, show how a combination of overwhelming military resources and aggressive counterinsurgency ultimately leads to frustration on the battlefield.

The Atlantic's Brian Mockenhaupt describes how marines in Helmand province are teaching the locals to read the Koran as a way to thwart the Taliban.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon argues that the United States needs to wind down the war in Afghanistan in a way that includes Afghan men and women fighting quietly for progress.

Max Boot says the best way to honor U.S. special forces is not to make them win wars on their own.

Isobel Coleman and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon say the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan places maternal health programs for Afghan women in jeopardy.

Nicholas Schmidle desscribe the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan by a team of Navy SEALs in this piece for The New Yorker.

A profile of the international terrorist network that the United States has singled out as the most serious threat to U.S. security.

Stephen Biddle discusses how domestic politics still clashes with strategic imperatives in U.S. Afghan policy.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says that while Secretary Clinton's commitment to keeping women front and center in Afghanistan is clear, the White House's interest in deploying political capital on Afghan women's behalf is far less certain.

Scaling back the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan will yield a peace dividend, but only when Social Security and Medicare spending are controlled will the U.S. be able to refocus on domestic priorities, says CFR'S Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

Don Rassler and Vahid Brown of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center report on the role of the local Haqqani network in the evolution of a global al-Qaeda, with roots in the political context of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1970s.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon argues that the freeing of the only suspect arrested in the mutilation of Afghan girl Bibi Aisha sends a message throughout Afghanistan that women's rights are irrelevant.

Ann Marlowe of the Hoover Institution spells out and challenges the prevailing concept of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as a "war of perceptions".

Heightened cross-border tensions and militant activity underscore the possible risks to the region as the United States prepares for its phased troop pullout from Afghanistan.

This session was part of the project, Maternal Health in Afghanistan and Pakistan, organized by CFR's Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.