Nov 21, 2009
- Aug 10, 2009
As you probably know, Baitullah Mehsud was killed by a U.S. drone last week. Karin von Hippel discussed the repercussions with Reuters:
"It would have better to arrest him and bring him to trial to see if he really did kill Benazir Bhutto.
"There are 40-plus militia leaders that comprise the Pakistani Taliban alone.
"I'm not sure we have a very good understanding of how all these militia groups operate within Pakistan and with the networks across the border in Afghanistan.
"What happens when you kill one person, is another comes in and takes their place pretty quickly."
- Aug 4, 2009
Karin appeared on WorldFocus yesterday to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan: the uptick in violence and military casualties, upcoming elections, and the strategic surge in the south.
- Aug 3, 2009
The Taliban is stretching into the north and west (after attacking in the east a few weeks ago). They are spreading out partially because they are feeling the heat in their traditional southern strongholds by the NATO surge, but also beacuse they are realizing that they must reach beyond their Pashtun base to the other ethnicities that make up Afghanistan, as the new Taliban manual shows. That means they're causing problems in areas they aren't normally seen, according to this article from the Christian Science Monitor.
- Jul 30, 2009
Karin von Hippel appeared in an article on Islam and U.S. development money in the Washington Post today:
...some scholars say that restrictions on USAID and other American civilian agencies have undercut the United States' ability to win the hearts and minds of Muslims in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, where Islam plays a central role in public and private life.
Karin von Hippel, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said military commanders have been given much more freedom to fund Islamic causes -- such as rehabilitation of mosques and assistance for religious schools.
- Jul 30, 2009
We cast doubt on whether the Pakistani army's offensive into Swat would be productive in the long-run...
- Jul 28, 2009
The Afghan elections weren't going to be that exciting. Now it appears that two of Karzai's challengers are catching up.
- Jul 27, 2009
Oliver S. Mains, a professor at American University in Kabul, explains why the young Afghans he teaches are boycotting August's elections.
- Jul 15, 2009
The Aspen Institute recently hosted an event on rape as a weapon of war entitled, Ending the Atrocity, Stop Rape Now: UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, which I attended. The speakers included The Honorable Margot Wallström (visit her blog), Vice President of the European Commission and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders’ Ministerial Initiative, Ambassador Melanne Verveer, United States Ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues and Co-founder of Vital Voices Global Partnership. The event was chaired by Ms. Inés Alberdi, Executive Director of UNIFEM.
I directly encountered the impact of rape on communities during my time in both Sierra Leone, where an estimated 64,000 women were raped during the 11 year civil war, and in Rwanda, where approximately 500,000 women were raped during the genocide. I follow this issue closely, but I am continually dismayed by the lack of action on the part of the international community to seriously engage member states on addressing issues of gender-based violence.
- Jul 15, 2009
One of the perks of being a DC intern is sitting in on events. Last week I went to the Center for International Media Assistance, at the National Endowment for Democracy, to hear a panel called "The Role of New Media in the Iranian Elections." I wasn't quite sure what the panel would say.
