Taliban

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A U.S. soldier mans a gun at the back gate aboard the helicopter carrying U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis as he arrives via helicopter at Resolute Support headquarters on April 24, 2017 in in Kabul, Afghanistan.

National Security This Week at the United Nations (April 9-16)

US and NATO Plan to Withdraw Troops from Afghanistan; Taliban Withdraws from Planned Peace Talks in Istanbul President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he plans to begin withdrawing…
Relatives and mourners perform funeral prayers over the coffin of one of the three female media workers shot to death in two separate attacks, in Jalalabad on March 3, 2021.

International Consensus Needed for the Taliban’s “Non-Return Through Force”

With a May 1 deadline looming for the withdrawal of the remaining U.S. troops in Afghanistan, stalled intra-Afghan “peace talks” in Doha, and a dramatic rise in violence across…
Family members and relatives take part in the funeral procession of Afghan journalist Rahmatullah Nekzad at Khoja Omari district of Ghazni province, on December 22, 2020. The group appears to walk uphill and fills the span of the block.

Unprecedented Threats to Journalists & Civil Society Activists Are Threatening Afghanistan

Who benefits from the killing of journalists, human rights activists, and civil society members in Afghanistan? What purposes could it serve and for whom?
Fighters with Afghanistan's Taliban militia stand on a hillside at Maydan Shahr in Wardak province, west of Kabul on September 26, 2008.

Legally Available Options: A Case for Indicting Russian Officers for Providing Material Support to the Taliban

Missing from analyses of potential responses to Russian operations in Afghanistan is the possibility of an indictment against the G.R.U. officers involved.
Trump and Pompeo

Trump Pushed CIA to Give Intelligence to Kremlin, While Taking No Action Against Russia Arming Taliban

"Trump directed the CIA to share intelligence information on counterterrorism with the Kremlin despite no discernable reward," while at the same time not backing up the Pentagon…
Rep. John Ratcliffe, (R-TX), prepares to give an opening statement before a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May. 5, 2020.

Unpacking the National Intelligence Council’s Memo on Russian Bounty Operation

President Trump's former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and our editor-in-chief write about the apparent skewing of intelligence to suit the White House narrative.
Trump, Pence, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, and Brig. Gen. Marcus Evans, Deputy Director for Special Operations on the Joint Staff in the Situation Room of the White House October 26, 2019 in Washington, DC.

The Baseline: How a Functional Executive Would Have Handled the Russian Bounty Operation

We outline the acts of accommodation and appeasement President Trump exhibited toward Russia during this period. Then we walk through what an appropriate set of actions would have…
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shake hands after signing a peace agreement during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha on February 29, 2020.

The U.S.-Taliban Agreement: Not a Ceasefire, or a Peace Agreement, and Other International Law Issues

Beatrice Walton explains the continuing lack of clarity concerning the terms of the recent Afghan peace deal and its potential effects moving forward.
World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme Director Michael Ryan, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove speak at a daily press briefing on COVID-19 virus at the WHO headquaters on March 11, 2020 in Geneva.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Mar. 7 to Mar. 13)

Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Just Security’s weekly series keeping readers up to date on developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security,…
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shake hands after signing a peace agreement during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha on February 29, 2020.

Peace in Afghanistan: Showmanship over Substance

It is clear why it is in the best interests of both the Taliban and the Trump administration to maintain the masquerade despite ongoing Taliban and Haqqani attacks targeting both…

Int’l Criminal Court’s Afghanistan Decision Expands Prosecutor’s Power: What to Expect Next

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized a formal investigation into alleged crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan on Thursday, overturning…
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shake hands after signing a peace agreement during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha on February 29, 2020.

The U.S.-Taliban Accord: Can the Afghan Government Rise to the Occasion?

Intra-Afghan talks are set to start March 10, leaving little time for the Afghan government to organize a negotiation team, even though they've had months to prepare.
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