The debate on Afghanistan

If you want to keep up with the debate on Afghanistan, you should obviously be reading FP‘s AfPak Channel. But here are a few other items of special note: 1. Chairman of the JCS Admiral Mike Mullen thinks we need more troops and more time. Some key Senators are skeptical. To watch the actual hearings, ...

Walt-Steve-foreign-policy-columnist20
Walt-Steve-foreign-policy-columnist20
Stephen M. Walt
By , a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University.
580906_090916_waltb2.jpg
580906_090916_waltb2.jpg

If you want to keep up with the debate on Afghanistan, you should obviously be reading FP‘s AfPak Channel. But here are a few other items of special note:

1. Chairman of the JCS Admiral Mike Mullen thinks we need more troops and more time. Some key Senators are skeptical. To watch the actual hearings, go here.

2. A new CATO Institute report on how to get out.

3. An open letter from the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy on why Obama should rethink his Afghan “strategy.” (Full disclosure: I’m one of the signatories).

4. What Sarah Palin and the guys who thought invading Iraq was a good idea think now. For some reason the phrase “caveat emptor” springs to mind.

5. Tom Englehardt is skeptical of benchmarks, but offers a long list of his own.  

JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP/Getty Images

Stephen M. Walt is a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University. Twitter: @stephenwalt

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.