On Monday (June 8), the U.S. military reported that about 10,000 Marines have arrived in Afghanistan as the first wave of about 21,000 additional troops that President Barack Obama ordered to Afghanistan this year. The troops' mission is to help Afghan security forces stanch an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency. The Taliban have become entrenched in the province of Helmand on the Pakistan border because of a lack of international and Afghan troops there. Dr. Idean Salehyan, University of North Texas assistant professor of political science, is available to discuss the Taliban and its methods of operation as you continue your coverage of the troop surge in Afghanistan. Salehyan is the author of the recently-published Rebels Without Borders: Transnational Insurgencies in World Politics, which discusses rebel militant groups that conduct at least some of their operations in neighboring states. Salehyan devotes part of the book to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, noting that, despite several years of counterinsurgency operations and clearly superior firepower, the Afghan government and U.S./NATO forces have been unable to defeat these groups because both groups "enjoy access to sanctuaries in tribal areas along the border in Pakistan, where the central government exercises only nominal control." "The U.S. has been frustrated by Pakistan's inability or unwillingness to evict militants operating in the tribal areas and beyond, and the issue has been repeatedly raised in meetings between U.S. officials and the Pakistani government," he says. Salehyan researched all of the civil wars in the world since 1945 for his book. He says the lessons learned in previous conflicts can shed light on current issues facing the U.S. and its allies. "Rebels are more likely to have access to external territory if neighboring states are too weak to prevent access," he says. "Failed states or states with limited control over their territory pose international security risks, as militant groups often use their soil as a base of operations." In addition, he says, neighboring countries that are hostile to the government often deliberately host and support the groups. "Rather than fight their international opponents directly, some states choose to delegate conflict to rebel proxies as a substitute to international war," Salehyan says. Salehyan may be reached on his cell phone, 619-301-8444. |
