Reuters
Jarrett Blanc, National Interest: Now or Never: America is on the Clock to Remove Troops from Afghanistan
Using U.S. leverage to craft an Afghan settlement demands incredible deftness in both Washington and Kabul.
Afghanistan has entered a period of intense political uncertainty. In December, President Donald Trump reportedly ordered the Pentagon to draw up plans for drawdown options including a complete troop withdrawal from the country. By March, bilateral talks between the United States, led by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Taliban had “agreed in draft” on counterterrorism assurances the Taliban will provide to the United States and on U.S. troop withdrawal, addressing Washington’s key objectives. Kabul is not at the table, and its needs (an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire) were much more loosely “agreed in principle.” An informal intra-Afghan dialogue planned for Doha in April was canceled, and a Loya Jirga to demonstrate non-Taliban unity in Kabul instead laid bare deep divisions, with most opposition leaders refusing to attend.
Read more ....
Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 19, 2019
Is the United States heading for war with Iran? -- Jonathan Marcus, BBC
Trump is replaying his aggressive '150% pressure' North Korea negotiation playbook against Iran, but experts fear it could backfire spectacularly -- Tom Porter, Business Insider
For Iranians, economic crisis looms larger than US tensions -- Mehdi Fattahi and Nasser Karimi, AP
US-China trade war: What could Beijing do next? -- Karishma Vaswani, BBC
China’s currency is sending a warning signal about the trade war -- Patti Domm, CNBC
How a Chinese company targeted by US tariffs for the last 10 years has adapted and thrived -- Eric Ng, SCMP
‘Divide and conquer Asean’: China tries to go one on one with Malaysia to settle South China Sea disputes -- Catherine Wong, SCMP
Miracle win offers Australian PM authority and government stability -- Colin Packham, Reuters
Morrison scores shock win at Australia’s polls -- Lachlan Colquhoun, Asia Times
Sri Lanka anniversary: 10 years since civil war ended -- Bernard Smith, Al Jazeera
How the UN failed Tamil civilians in 2009 -- Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Al Jazeera
Here's Why ISIS And Al-Qaida Will Lose Their War Of Attrition -- Aki Peritz, NPR
Our solution for Libya -- Anwar Gargash, The National
France’s Macron forced to curb his ambitions for Europe -- Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton, AP
Is a ‘Green Wave’ heading for Europe’s parliamentary elections? -- France 24
The Justice Department Goes All-In on Origins of Russia Probe -- Hunter DeRensis, National Interest
Notre Dame's design competition is one for the ages, but some hope it's just one for Instagram -- Alan Weedon, ABC News Online
