South Asia

Dispatch

Nepal’s Oligarchy Isn’t Earthquake-Proof

KATHMANDU — Police guarded a voter registration center in Patan Durbar Square, dozing or fiddling with smartphones amid scaffolding and the ruins of centuries-old pagodas ...

The Cable

As America Retreats, the World Moves Forward on Trade

In the last six months, the United States has hurled itself off the chessboard that is international trade, leaving the Trans Pacific Partnership, threatening to ...

Best Defense

Our generals failed in Afghanistan

Best Defense is on summer hiatus. During this restful spell we offer re-runs from the past 12 months. This item originally ran on Oct. 18, ...

Argument

Pakistan Can’t Afford China’s ‘Friendship’

In recent months, the Chinese-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has left Pakistanis emboldened, Indians angry, and U.S. analysts worried. Ostensibly, CPEC will connect Pakistan to China’s ...

Podcast

Can Trump End the Never-Ending War?

[protected-iframe id="a47e3859c75526bf8e6c3683ff7d5602-71129472-76891884" info="https://player.megaphone.fm/PNP9616477877?" width="100%" height="200" scrolling="no"] The Pentagon is set to send an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the State Department is ready to ...

The Cable

Can Modi Turn India From a ‘True Friend’ to the U.S. to a Friend Forever?

In Washington, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is out to answer to one question: “Is India the lynchpin of America’s strategic pivot to the east, ...

The Cable

A British Deal, an Indian Declaration, a Supreme Court Announcement: The Weekend Behind, the Week Ahead

Theresa May’s Conservatives have reached a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to form a government on Monday. The deal will see an additional one ...

Argument

Can There Be Peace With Honor in Afghanistan?

Over the next few weeks, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is due to provide President Donald Trump with a new strategy for Afghanistan. This will ...

The Cable

State Department to Scrap Afghanistan-Pakistan Envoy

In a surprising move, the State Department reportedly is getting rid of its special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Several reports on Friday indicate the ...

The Cable

Trump’s Likely Pick for India Ambassador Actually Knows a Lot About India

After five months without a U.S. number one in India, Donald Trump appears to have finally chosen the next ambassador to the subcontinent. Kenneth Juster, ...

Dispatch

Asia Is Trawling for a Deadly Fishing War

THALVUPADU, Sri Lanka — Stanley Cruz, a fisher in this beachside village on the island of Mannar off Sri Lanka’s northwestern coast, stands with his ...

The Cable

SitRep: Thousands More Headed to Afghanistan; Did Moscow Kill Baghdadi?

With Adam Rawnsley Afghan surge, again and again. Military officials have been saying for months they need somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 more troops ...

The Cable

The New, Old War in Afghanistan

In the coming weeks, President Donald Trump will become the third American president in 16 years to surge troops into Afghanistan. But he will also ...

Best Defense

An excerpt from ‘One Mission: How Leaders Built a Team of Teams’

The Utility of Liaison Officers Midway through my year with General Stanley McChrystal, I found myself in the back seat of a well-worn and ...

The Cable

SitRep: Mattis’ War; U.S. To Ship $12B Worth of Fighter Planes to Qatar; American Commandos Targeted By ISIS Drones

With Adam Rawnsley Afghanistan surge. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sought to temper expectations he was about to embark on a large -- or rapid ...

Voice

Trump Isn’t Being a CEO. He’s Just AWOL.

Presidents often say that the hardest thing they have to do, and their most sacred responsibility, is to decide to send troops into harm’s way. ...

The Cable

SitRep: Trump Letting Mattis Run Afghan War; Senate Barely Approves Saudi Arms Deal; White House Watching Moscow and Pyongyang

With Adam Rawnsley Have it your way. President Donald Trump has given his Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, the authority to decide how many troops ...

Voice

Screw Brad Pitt and the ‘War Machine’ He Rode in On

As with any film or show that touches on my own experience in government, I was prepared to do a lot of eye-rolling when I ...

Argument

China’s Cult of Stability Is Killing Tibetans

On the morning of May 19, 22-year-old Tibetan monk Jamyang Losal set himself alight in Qinghai province’s Tsojang Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Losal, who died at ...

The Cable

SitRep: Another Week at War — U.S. Convoy Hit in Afghanistan; U.S. Losses; New Somalia Strike

With Adam Rawnsley Another bloody weekend in the Long War. Three U.S.soldiers were killed in Eastern Afghanistan over the weekend, and a convoy of ...

TO GO WITH INDIA-US-JAPAN-SINGAPORE-AUST

Report

It’s Not China, It’s You, India Seems to Tell Spurned Aussies

China’s growing assertiveness and economic heft across Asia, combined with a newly reticent United States, is making countries in the region wonder if and when ...

The Cable

Afghanistan Blames Pakistan for Planning Deadly Kabul Attack

KABUL — At 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, the Afghan capital of Kabul shook as a massive explosion rippled across the city. A septic tanker loaded with ...

The Cable

Massive Blast Kills 80 in Kabul’s Diplomatic Quarter

Dozens were killed in a car bomb in the diplomatic quarter of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday. At least 80 were killed, and at least 350 ...

The Cable

Here’s How Trump Can Win America’s Longest War

The war in Afghanistan is vitally important and President Donald Trump can still win it. Despite the Trump administration’s other preoccupations, it has the opportunity ...

The Cable

SitRep: Manchester Toll Grows; U.S. Raids al Qaeda in Yemen; Trump Defense Budget Flop

With Adam Rawnsley Manchester attack. The explosion at a concert in Manchester, U.K. Monday evening appears to have been the work of a suicide ...

Voice

What’s the Point of Donald Trump’s Afghan Surge?

Having previously promised to get the United States “out of the nation-building business,” President Trump is contemplating sending 3,000 to 5,000 more U.S. troops to ...

The Cable

Washington Scrambles to Shore Up Faltering Afghan War Effort

On his first overseas trip since being sworn in, President Donald Trump will continue to push NATO allies to increase defense spending and make the ...

The Cable

Indian-Born U.S. Congresswoman Asks Modi to Rein in ‘Cow Vigilantes’

Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP won big in elections in five states -- including the largest, Uttar Pradesh -- there have been fears ...

Dispatch

In the Kingdom of Dying Ponies

IMPHAL, India – Fifteen seconds into the opening match of the 10th Manipur International Polo Tournament, after a long and feverish drumming performance, after the ...

AFGHANISTAN-US-UNREST-MILITARY-HELMAND-MARINES

The Cable

SitRep: Trump’s Afghan Surge; Flynn In More Trouble; Syria Deal Debate; Lavrov Comes To Washington

With Adam Rawnsley Afghan surge. The White House is considering plans to add 3,000 troops to the fight in Afghanistan, loosening rules for how ...

The Cable

Japan and India to Strengthen Military Ties, Which Means … What for the United States?

Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley agreed in Tokyo on Monday to increase military cooperation with Japan, which could potentially complicate U.S. policy in the region. ...

The Cable

Pakistan Spurns Indian Offer to Join in Regional Satellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s heaviest rocket left Earth on Friday, charged with sending into orbit a communications satellite. The satellite, GSAT-9, is entirely paid ...

Argument

The Mother of All Terrorist Groups Isn’t the Islamic State

On April 13, the U.S. military dropped a huge bomb on caves and tunnels used by Islamic State fighters in eastern Afghanistan. The resulting blast ...

Dispatch

Can This Provincial Warlord Scale in Kabul?

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan — “I wish you hadn’t been reappointed as the governor of Balkh province,” says a young representative from the neighboring Baghlan province of ...

The Cable

SitRep: U.S. Releases Civilian Death Toll in ISIS Fight; Marines Back in Afghanistan; Trump’s Defense Increase Fizzles

With Adam Rawnsley Margin walker. Over the weekend, a top White House official was forced to clean up and clarify President Donald Trump’s remarks ...

The Cable

SitRep: Trump To Gut Foreign Aid; U.S., North Korea Show Teeth; Washington’s Urgency to Solve Pyongyang

With Adam Rawnsley Slash and burn. The Trump administration is developing plans to cut assistance programs for developing countries and merge the State Department ...

The Cable

SitRep: Mattis in Kabul, Taliban Hit U.S. Base; North Korea Warns Washington; Watch Trump Learn About NATO and Terrorism

With Adam Rawnsley Wheels down in Kabul. Again. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis landed in Kabul on Monday, becoming the sixth Pentagon chief to land ...

Voice

France’s Election Is Trump vs. Merkel vs. Modi vs. Corbyn

When she launched her campaign for president of France earlier this year, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front Party, reminded a jam-packed ...

The Cable

Canada’s Defense Minister Gets Cold Reception in India

Canada’s defense minister, Harjit Sajjan, flew to his native Punjab on a mission to strengthen Canada’s relations with India but no one official was there ...

Dispatch

Afghans Want More ‘Mothers of All Bombs’

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The sky-tearing blast last week was unlike anything the villagers around the Acchin valleys in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar had ...

The Cable

Is India Playing the United States Against Russia?

India’s finance minister, who is also India’s defense minister, has some financial business to attend to this week in United States. And then he’s got ...

The Cable

Indian Government Denounces Textbook Describing Ideal Female Shape

An Indian government minister has launched an investigation into a school textbook for being “sexist,” “non-defendable,” and “unacceptable.” India’s union minister of human resource development, ...

Best Defense

Facing Down The Taliban, One Orchestra Performance at a Time

When Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast first returned to Afghanistan in 2005 after some 15 years in asylum, he heard deafening silence. Music, once a vibrant ...

The Cable

United States Drops ‘Mother of All Bombs’ On ISIS in Afghanistan

To blow up an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan, the United States has dropped one of its most powerful non-nuclear bombs -- the ...

The Cable

India Calls Pakistan Death Sentence for Alleged Spy ‘Premeditated Murder’

Last year, Pakistan detained Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, on suspicions of spying. On Monday, a military court sentenced him to death for ...

Best Defense

I was a U.S. Army officer, but nowadays, America feels like a foreign country to me

By Drew Pham Best Defense guest columnist In 2010, I deployed to Wardak province, Afghanistan, as a scout platoon leader. It was beautiful. Mountains ...

Report

India Stands in the Way of China’s Free Trade Ambitions

A China-backed trade deal meant to cement the Beijing’s dominance in Asia has veered off course because India is hesitant to open its borders to ...

The Cable

China and India in a Spat Over, Yes, the Dalai Lama

China accused India on Wednesday of threatening bilateral relations between the two countries by permitting the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh is ...

Argument

‘If They Kill Even One Hindu, We Will Kill 100!’

Nationalist leaders are used to dashing liberals’ hopes. In their early periods in power, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, China’s Xi Jinping, and even Russia’s Vladimir ...

Voice

‘Mission Accomplished’ Will Never Come in Afghanistan

What would you do if your boss ordered you to teach a sheep to fly? Because I have the luxury of tenure, I like to ...

Argument

What Does Yogi Adityanath Mean for Indian Politics?

Three days after a “firebrand Hindu cleric” was appointed as chief minister of India’s largest state, eyes were already on the slaughterhouses. On Saturday, India’s ...

The Cable

Justice Department Moves to Revoke U.S. Citizenship From Man Convicted in 2003 Terror Plot

Almost 14 years ago, the U.S. government locked up Pakistani-American Iyman Faris for providing material support to terrorists, and all but threw away the key. ...

EXCERPT

The Graveyard of Empires and Big Data

The only tiki bar in eastern Afghanistan had an unusual payment program. A sign inside read simply, “If you supply data, you will get beer.” ...

Podcast

India’s Optimism Is a Welcome Antidote to Western Pessimism

Americans suffering a crisis of confidence about the future of their country's democratic institutions under President Donald Trump could use a dose of Indian-style optimism. ...

About South Asia Channel

The South Asia Channel, a collaboration with New America and Johns Hopkins SAIS, features deep analysis of issues concerning Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and covers everything from politics to business to culture.

Editor, Peter Bergen
Assistant Editor, David Sterman

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