La carriera di Holbrooke

Holbrooke, già famoso per essere uno dei fautori degli "accordi di Dayton" in Bosnia e per dichiarazioni nelle quali, da americano, ha affermato "La Serbia non dovrà mai entrare a far parte dell'UE fino a quando non riconoscerà l'indipendenza del Kosovo", viene reclutato da Obama per risolvere le questioni afgane... Stiamo in buone mani...

(fonte: The Economist)

Afghanistan and the Obama administration

No dream team for Karzai

Dec 4th 2008 | KABUL
From The Economist print edition

Cynicism on the streets and a certain nervousness in the presidential palace

BARACK OBAMA has promised to make Afghanistan his foreign-policy priority. But on the streets of Kabul his electoral triumph has been greeted with jaded pessimism. A typical view is that he will make little difference. The president, Hamid Karzai, however, may fear that from his point of view, things may actually get worse.

As a first earnest of a new American resolve perhaps 20,000 extra American soldiers are to arrive in Afghanistan next year: not quite an Iraq-style surge, but much more than a trickle. And the new administration is collecting champions of the Afghan problem. The vice-president-elect, Joe Biden, is a veteran of many visits to the region. The next secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has called Afghanistan and Pakistan the “forgotten front-line” in the war on terror, and has advocated the appointment of a special envoy to the two countries.

If she gets her way, a probable candidate for the job is her old ally, Richard Holbrooke, a former American ambassador to the UN. He is also the chairman of the New York-based Asia Society and sits on its task-force on Afghanistan with Barnett Rubin, an expert on the country. In October Mr Rubin and Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistan-based author of several books on the region, produced a paper advocating a wider regional approach to the problem—“a grand bargain”, drawing in India, China, Russia and Iran, and tackling the issue of Kashmir as well as that of the Durand Line between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A dream team of Afghanistan-watchers, however, may be a nightmare for Mr Karzai, who enjoys a hearty, backslapping friendship with the loyal Mr Bush. Mr Obama has been sharply critical of him for not having “gotten out of the bunker” to organise the country in a way that would build confidence. Mr Biden, meanwhile, was so angered by Mr Karzai at their last meeting that he stalked out. Mr Holbrooke has also criticised Mr Karzai. Last year, he challenged him for not arresting a warlord, Rashid Dostum, accused of assaulting a rival with a beer-bottle. He asked how the president could “let the thugs back you down over a murderous warlord”. Mr Holbrooke claims Mr Karzai, facing re-election next September, responded with a shrug. He may be rueing that now.