February, 2009

John Solecki remains in the hands of militants as the UN pleas for direct negotiations with the Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF).  Reuters reports John is alive, but in poor health.  The group is demanding the release of 141 Baluc

The wires say President Obama plans to annouce the withdrawal of the majority of U.S. forces from Iraq within 19 months, leaving 30,000-50,000 soldiers in the country.

The CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) Project invites you to:
Development in Afghanistan: The National Solidarity Plan and Beyond

with Ehsan Zia, Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development

Thursday, February 26, 2009
3:00pm – 4:00pm
B1-Level Conference Room
CSIS
1800 K Street, NW

Please RSVP to pcrproject@csis.org

The GAO  released a new report on U.S. efforts in Pakistan today:

Download Measuring Progress in International State Building and Reconstruction, a paper presented at the Aspen European Strategy Forum last year by Frederick Barton. Overview:

By FREDERICK BARTON AND KARIN VON HIPPEL  with Mark Irvine, Thomas Patterson, and Mehlaqa Samdani    PUL – Connecting the U.S. and Afghanistan through television

Temporary Internal Vacancy Announcement
Chief Judicial Affairs Officer  D-1

Deadline for applications: 28 February 2009
Date of issuance:  19 February 2009
Organizational Unit:  Office of the DSRSG /Pillar I
Duty Station:   Kabul, Afghanistan
Vacancy Announcement No.: UNAMA-09-SUB-INT-001

Video is now available (3:49) of Rick Barton's interview yesterday with PBS World Focus:

The GAO released three new reports on U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, raising important questions about USG coordination, force deployments, and the Afghan security forces:

3D Security Initiative just released a report and video from a conference held in late October on Building Whole of Community Conflict Prevention. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S.

Flikr photo by seccad used under a Creative Commons license.   

We've done some work with the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (now renamed Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships) during the course of our reli

Security Policy Forum, in cooperation with the Security Policy Studies Program present:
 
NATO  OPERATIONS

LT. GEN. KARL EIKENBERRY, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Brussels; former Commander of the Combined Forces Command, Afghanistan
 
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2009
6:30-7:30 PM
1957 E STREET, NW
7TH FLOOR, CITY VIEW ROOM
 

On Feb 3, USIP & Independent Television Services (ITVS) convened a meeting with U.S.

CSIS invites you to a discussion with Gary Langer, Director of Polling, ABC News:

Afghanistan: Where Things Stand

Introduction by Anthony Cordesman, CSIS Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy

Interesting news regarding Iran's upcoming presidential elections (held in June) - the FT is reporting that former President Khatami may lead a reformist ticket against incumbent President Ahamdinejad.

President Obama, along with Secretary of Defense Gates, are in the process of re-defining the ultimate goal in Afghanistan from democratic governance to state stability and reasonable security. As the administration adjusts expectations for the war in Afghanistan, it is important that all actors agree on an objective.

Shaun Casey, one of the advisors to our religion project (see the report Mixed Blessings), is the featured author at an event next week at the Center for American Progress. Details below:

Values and Voters
John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and the Role of Religion in Presidential Politics
Monday, February 09, 2009, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Center for American Progress, Washington, DC

Featured Author:
Shaun Casey, Wesley Theological Seminary

Discussion Moderated by:
E.J. Dionne, Jr., Brookings Institution

Introduction by:
Sally Steenland, Center for American Progress

 Feb 2, 2009: Our host in Quetta, Pakistan last April, John Solecki of UNHCR, was taken from his car by armed gunmen and his driver, Syed Hashim, was shot and killed a few days ago. 

The Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy at CSIS recently released a new report that makes 14 recommendations for strengthening stabilization and reconstruction operations across a European-North American partnership.  The

Although had we not seen the title, we might not have known this was supposed to be funny:

Top Ten Reasons You Know You're Working at an Aid Organization

- According to David Letterman (The Late Show on CBS in the USA)