I don't publish on this blog every interview I give -- though I look forward to a new experience next week, of going onto the VOA Pakistan service to discuss Afghanistan in its regional context. (For Urdu speakers, that'll be on Tuesday...)
I am however putting a link here to evidence I gave to the UK Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on Afghanistan. Also, in January I look forward to the publication of a piece on the United Nations' possible role in a peace settlement in Afghanistan, including some thoughts on the need for a proper effort to consult and discuss with the opponents of a settlement with the Taliban.
Women's groups view this settlement with particular concern, but mechanisms for a dialogue with those groups are relatively well established, not least through Unifem. Ethnic groups such as the Hazaras, Uzbeks or even Tajiks however have been expressing their concerns at a possible deal louder and louder in recent months. Ethnic division has never been far from the surface in Afghanistan -- not even in the good old days of the monarchy -- but there is a risk that it might one day go beyond just talk.
