Trudy Rubin’s Worldview column runs on Wednesdays and Sundays. In the past five years she has visited Iraq nine times and has also written from Iran, Pakistan, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, China and South Korea
In the wake of the Afghan leader's odd victory, Obama must revamp his approach.
KABUL, Afghanistan - The reelection of President Hamid Karzai creates new headaches for the Obama administration. But it also presents opportunities to be seized.
- The real fear in Kabul
I'm headed back to Afghanistan and Pakistan at a critical juncture, which will shape Obama's foreign-policy legacy.
The president will have to roll out his AfPak strategy very soon and explain it to the American public. His long review has fed the perception in South Asia that the United States is heading for the exit, which adds to the Taliban's momentum.
- The senator showed that a polite, private push can work with the Afghan president.Whatever Afghanistan strategy President Obama chooses will hinge on whether U.S. officials can work with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. U.S. frustration at Karzai's failure to rein in corruption, which feeds Taliban gains, has been building. It peaked over the blatant rigging of the presidential election in August.
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How can the American public be expected to support a new policy for Afghanistan when they don't know why we're there?
- We're likely stuck with the Afghan president, but perhaps we can change his behavior.Sometime this week, we may learn who the president of Afghanistan is. Or we may not. Imagine: As President Obama wrestles with whether to send more troops to fight the Afghan Taliban, it's still unclear whether the sitting president, Hamid Karzai, won the majority required to avoid a runoff.
- The award honors his lofty goals. He can't achieve them without help.The Norwegian Nobel committee has done President Obama no favor by awarding him the 2009 Peace Prize. The committee bestowed the prize for Obama's intentions, not his achievements, since nominations were closed right after he took office. Committee members wanted to build support for his efforts to promote "a new climate in international politics."
- McChrystal offered the right advice the wrong way. Obama should listen to him.I feel sorry for Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal. The top commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is in hot water. Last week, he rejected the idea of scaling down U.S. troop levels and fighting al-Qaeda there with drones and missiles. Such a strategy shift - which some in the administration are advancing - would be "shortsighted," he said.
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The debate over Afghan strategy - the Af in our AfPak policy - has overshadowed an equally daunting challenge: Can we figure out how to improve relations with Pakistan?
- Talking about human rights may be more fruitful than talking about nuclear aims.The United States and five other major powers will begin direct talks with Iran today in Geneva, but the agenda still isn't settled. The West wants to home in on Iran's nuclear enrichment program. The media are abuzz with new revelations about a secret Iranian nuclear plant and Iran's missile tests last weekend.
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It was a week of stunning contradictions for Barack Obama. The president was showcased on the world stage, at the United Nations and the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. He promoted grand plans for global partnership on a range of topics - from climate change to nuclear disarmament to setting the world economy right.
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Some of the harsh choices Americans face on Afghanistan might have been avoided had secret efforts by Pakistan and India to end their dispute over Kashmir not been derailed in 2007.
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President Obama wants to postpone a full-scale debate over Afghan policy until Congress passes health-care reform. Unfortunately for Obama, Afghanistan won't wait on health care. A debate on the direction of his Afghan policy is already brewing in Congress - especially over whether to send more troops.
MORE STORIES
Peter Bergen | Richard A. Clarke
Kenneth Pollack | Bruce Riedel
This project was done in cooperation with The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
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