Articles By Chayanika Saxena

Can Afghan peace be achieved in a hurry?

Can Afghan peace be achieved in a hurry?

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: South Asia Monitor | Date: 09 Jan , 2019

I got my first opportunity to visit Kabul before 2018 ended for a conference where people from the regions that Afghanistan straddles – Central and South Asia – gathered to discuss ideas to...

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Afghanistan’s Catch-22

Afghanistan’s Catch-22

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 02 Mar , 2018

For Afghanistan, there is nothing different about the year that has just begun except that there is more violence, increasing political fragmentation, a slowing economy, and rising discontent...

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Regional Connectivity, Regional Peace Via Afghanistan

Regional Connectivity, Regional Peace Via Afghanistan

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 27 Dec , 2017

Sitting at the intersections of many regions, the location of Afghanistan has exposed it to the tumults of geopolitics as much as it has placed it at the center of flourishing trade routes all...

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The Disarrayed House: American Policy on Afghanistan Inspires Little Confidence

The Disarrayed House: American Policy on Afghanistan Inspires Little Confidence

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 15 Nov , 2017

It’s  been  three  months since the President of USA,  Donald Trump, made his country’s  intent  clear that it would stay put in  Afghanistan for as long as it took to  “kill  the ...

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India is right in its cautious pragmatism on Afghanistan

India is right in its cautious pragmatism on Afghanistan

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 03 Oct , 2017

US President Donald Trump unveiled his much-touted Afghan policy on 21 August 2017. Trump announced to adopt a condition-based policy instead of a calendar-driven agenda, a moderate troop surge...

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Competing Political Authorities and Interests: Crisis Governance in...

Competing Political Authorities and Interests: Crisis Governance in...

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 10 Aug , 2017

Much like any other country across the world, Afghanistan too contains many faultlines within its polity. A seemingly obvious consequence of the existence of such cleavages is their mobilization...

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Afghanistan: Chinese Whispers Replaced with Discernable Actions

Afghanistan: Chinese Whispers Replaced with Discernable Actions

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 07 Jul , 2017

A theatre of rivalries in the past, Afghanistan continues to be an experiment ground for regional and international permutations and combinations – those that put it at the centre of conflicts...

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Blasting its Way into no Future: Spiraling Insecurity Amidst Political Chaos...

Blasting its Way into no Future: Spiraling Insecurity Amidst Political Chaos...

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 23 Jun , 2017

Blasts and the consequent loss of human lives and damage to property are, unfortunately, not new to Afghanistan. The dent that is caused to domestic faith and morale are even harder to repair than...

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Talking to the Taliban: It’s no longer a question of ‘if’ but of...

Talking to the Taliban: It’s no longer a question of ‘if’ but of...

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 30 Apr , 2017

Afghanistan is witnessing a revival of ‘regional’ interest towards settling the conflict between the government and the deemed anti-government forces. Where this returning of the gaze has...

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Concerting for Peace in Afghanistan: Will the 'Meeting of Six' have a Tune...

Concerting for Peace in Afghanistan: Will the 'Meeting of Six' have a Tune...

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 11 Mar , 2017

Peace in Afghanistan appears to be on the minds of many. If the recent concert by the regional powers surrounding Afghanistan – Russia, Iran, India, China and Pakistan – is anything to go by,...

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Towards Power Sufficiency and Power Parity in Afghanistan

Towards Power Sufficiency and Power Parity in Afghanistan

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 22 Jan , 2017

Ravaged by decades of violent conflicts, Afghanistan today finds itself treading a difficult path towards sustainable and effective reconstruction and redevelopment. In its attempt to rebuild the...

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IS-Khorasan in Afghanistan: The new menace on the extremist block

IS-Khorasan in Afghanistan: The new menace on the extremist block

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: South Asia Monitor | Date: 02 Jan , 2017

Facing challenges on many fronts, Afghanistan is battling various anti-state forces at once. Caught in spiralling insecurity, the conflict-ridden nation now faces the latest anti-state element to...

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Democratic in Disarray in Afghanistan: Disunity in the Unity Government

Democratic in Disarray in Afghanistan: Disunity in the Unity Government

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 21 Nov , 2016

Democracy was ‘restored’ in Afghanistan following decades of violence and conflicts. Where violent uprisings against the invading Soviet Union by the Mujahedeen wrecked the rural areas of...

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Afghanistan: Peace with Warlord Sends Mixed Signals

Afghanistan: Peace with Warlord Sends Mixed Signals

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 27 Sep , 2016

Is it finally peace time in Afghanistan? Cutting peace deals with warring factions is generally considered one step forward in the direction of peace. But what if this one step forward for peace...

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In Mind and in Sight: The Persisting Legacy of Karzai in Afghan Politics

In Mind and in Sight: The Persisting Legacy of Karzai in Afghan Politics

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 26 Aug , 2016

Following almost four decades of violence and conflict, a new political framework was introduced in Afghanistan on the back of international and regional material and moral support. Beginning...

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Despite setback, Taliban will force greater violence on Afghanistan

Despite setback, Taliban will force greater violence on Afghanistan

By: Chayanika Saxena | Issue: Courtesy: South Asia Monitor | Date: 28 May , 2016

Taken down in a drone attack, the rehbar (leader) of Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour is reported to have been eliminated on the evening of May 21, 2016. Confirming his death, official...

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Paying high price for peace: A quagmire that Afghan High Peace Council is

Paying high price for peace: A quagmire that Afghan High Peace Council is

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 02 Mar , 2016

Ever since the Red Army had descended on a land that is notoriously known as the ‘graveyard of empires’, stability and security in Afghanistan became the ghosts; as elusive as they could be....

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What has become of Taliban in Afghanistan?

What has become of Taliban in Afghanistan?

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 30 Dec , 2015

Taliban has all along been considered a formidable, resilient unified front with an effective chain of command. But, like every other entity that is prone to change, or in this case, decline, the...

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Stoning to Death, Taliban is Still Alive

Stoning to Death, Taliban is Still Alive

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 20 Nov , 2015

With an exit forced on Taliban in 2001, the world had come to believe that it was finally time when the winds of change would propel Afghanistan on the path of present to a brighter future. But,...

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Combating ISIS: World should push aside vested interests

Combating ISIS: World should push aside vested interests

By: Chayanika Saxena | Date: 17 Oct , 2015

A matter of international deliberation (or rather, contention), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has managed to capture the imagination of the entire globe, with the many speeches at...

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