In mid-July, Afghanistan's interim president, Hamid Karzai, issued two statements that reflected an unprecedented toughness toward drug traffickers and warlords in the country. Karzai summoned most of Afghanistan's reputed warlords to Kabul to inform them that their resistance to disarmament was trying his patience. According... MORE

A British parliamentary panel issued a report in late July calling attention to Afghanistan's political fragility. The report warns that "Afghanistan could implode with terrible consequences," unless security is improved and resources provided. The report concludes that there is "little if any, sign of the... MORE

Monday July 26 was the deadline for candidates to register for Afghanistan's upcoming presidential elections. The cut-off date brought several surprises for the Afghan electorate and for the international community observing the process. In an unexpected move, President Hamid Karzai called a press conference late... MORE

On July 22, General Abdur Rashid Dostum, the strongman of northern Afghanistan, announced his intention to run for the presidency. He called his decision the will of the representatives of his people. His entry in the field brings the total number of candidates to near... MORE

Afghanistan's deteriorating security situation has led to further postponement of the presidential and parliamentary elections. Initially scheduled for June 2004 (when President Hamid Karzai's term of office expired), both sets of elections were postponed to September, as officially announced during the June NATO summit in... MORE

Trade and economic relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan seem to be improving, despite the recent history of mutual suspicion between the Northern Alliance-dominated government in Kabul and Islamabad's past support of the Taliban regime, which U.S. forces and the Northern Alliance toppled in December 2001.... MORE

The official announcement on July 9 to postpone the Afghan presidential elections from September to October and the parliamentary elections from September to April or May of 2005 comes as no surprise. Analysts following events on the ground in Afghanistan knew many weeks ago that... MORE

Historical, cultural, and linguistic links between Afghanistan and Iran have always encouraged close ties between the two countries. Frequent and close contacts continued between the two states until the Taliban came to power, ruling from 1996 to 2001. When the Taliban regime was deposed by... MORE

At the June 28-29 NATO summit in Istanbul, both Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W. Bush appealed for NATO to immediately deploy more NATO troops in Afghanistan to boost security for the upcoming September elections. The requests largely fell on deaf ears.... MORE

The latest surge of violence against poll workers and other civilians in Afghanistan's eastern and southwestern provinces killed at least 18 people and left more than 13 injured, some seriously. President Hamid Karzai, U.S. Ambassador Zalmai Khalilzad, UN Special Envoy Jean Arnault, and the coalition... MORE