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As U.S. policymakers debate how to draw down involvement in Afghanistan, a number of challenges remain. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War have closely examined two critical issues, the negotiations for the release of detainees from Guantanamo Bay and the reforms needed to run a fair presidential election in 2014.
The Institute for the Study of War has published three products examining the conflict in Afghanistan in preparation for ISAF Commander General John Allen’s testimony on Capitol Hill this week.
Most protests in Afghanistan over the past week have not been spontaneous or independent spates of anti-Americanism, tracking done by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War shows. Instead external actors, insurgent groups and Afghan political factions aiming to harm their local rivals have orchestrated most violent protests.
On October 11, 2011 the Department of Justice revealed that U.S. authorities had foiled a plot by Iran's Qods Force to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States in a potential mass-casualty attack in Washington, DC.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has been active in the Pakistani tribal region since late 2001, where it reconstituted after fighting alongside the Taliban.
Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is a group of fighters whose main area of operation is northeastern Afghanistan, such as the provinces of Kunar, Laghman and Paktia.