Strip this report of its framing, though, and it's fascinating and well-written.
Forget the fact that Pakistan isn't mentioned in any relevant capacity in this piece and that Gopal is being allowed to do fieldwork in Taliban-controlled areas for a moment.
He admits the entire US endeavour was probably sustainable!
"bUt WaS iT jUsT?"
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I don't know if France is inviting Russia in as part of some hare-brained scheme to reduce or supplement its own footprint or whether Russia is just displacing France across the continent as it seemingly did in CAR, but this is not great: reuters.com/world/africa/e…
Seems pretty clear Russia had a role in the coup: "Several hundred Malians rallied in the capital Bamako on Friday to support the army, as well as Russia, AFP journalists said, after the military reasserted control in the unstable Sahel state this week." africanews.com/2021/05/29/mal…
State Department: I mean, this current Taliban cabinet isn't ideal, what with being all-male, all Taliban old guard and all terrorists, but we won't judge it because it's only interim and the REAL Taliban government in the future might be inclusive!
Very interesting discussion with @ObaidullaBaheer, @jmurtazashvili, and Michael Semple on Taliban "governance" and the conundrum of humanitarian aid provision, funds, and engaging with the Taliban given the looming humanitarian catastrophe.
My own opinion on this issue is that NGOs and governments empowering, legitimizing, and subsidizing brutal regimes and insurgents like the Houthis, Taliban, Assad, TPLF, AQ, etc out of humanitarian concern does far more harm than good 👇
While I am always happy to hear someone trash "CVE," and this article contains some legitimate criticisms, its overall thesis is 😬 newlinesmag.com/argument/under…
The author's key contentions: 1) CVE stigmatizes [Muslim] communities 2) CVE refuses to blame Western foreign policy for Muslim radicalization 3) Joining the jihad no different to drug addiction or other social ills, so "focus on making our societies more inclusive and hopeful"
Ironically, the author, in criticizing CVE, inadvertently falls into the same trap as the industry: It's the ideology, stupid.
"Improving the lot of youth" is not the answer to CVE – it's just another expression of the same liberal delusions.
1. Firstly, analysts shouldn't juxtapose transnational terrorism and local insurgency.
Operational capabilities and tactical considerations may shift, but AQ/IS have always and will always focus on external operations as well as co-opting local insurgencies. It's not either/or.
2. Additionally, what we are witnessing is not jihadists regressing back to their local insurgent roots.
On the contrary, we are seeing local insurgencies be entirely subsumed by inherently transnational movements like the Islamic State.