Charles G. Cogan
Associate, International Security Program
Contact:
Telephone: 617-864-3959
Email: chuck_cogan@harvard.edu
Website: http://www.drcharlesgcogan.net
AP Photo
January 13, 2011
"Pakistan: A Two-Speed Society, Destination Unclear"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
The vision of Pakistan's founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, that of a liberal, democratic society tolerant of religious minorities, has largely gone away. What can take its place is uncertain....Since its origins, Pakistan has been a frustrated state, trumped repeatedly by its more powerful neighbor, India, and frequently channeling its sorrow against the United States, all the more so since the spectacular rapprochement between India and the U.S. initiated by the Administration of George W. Bush.
AP Photo
December 22, 2010
"Picking a Fight"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"It is not just a question of freedom of movement for insurgents going from Pakistan to Afghanistan and back again for rest and recuperation. It is that the ISI is aiding some of the insurgents inside Afghanistan: almost certainly the Haqqani network (which seems to have been involved one way or another in the suicide attack against the CIA base in Khost, as well as the Indian Embassy in Kabul); probably the Hekmatyar group (like the Haqqani's, a former mujahidin group); and even possibly the Afghan Taliban themselves."
AP Photo
August 2, 2010
"Loose Canon"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"The Afghan Taliban are a potential instrument of influence for Pakistan inside Afghanistan (and against Indian interests there), as are the networks of Hekmatyar and Haqqani, two former mujahidin groups in the Pakistani-sponsored war against the Soviets in the 1980's."
AP Photo
March 17, 2010
"Afghanistan: From Nation-Building to Governance and Back Again"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Ambassador Holbrooke is not one to sit idly on his mandate. He has assembled an impressive and numerous personal staff. He plans to carry out a "civil surge" in Afghanistan that will increase the numbers of U.S. civilians there from the 300 who were in-country at the beginning of 2009 to 900 at the end of 2010. (Over the same period, he said, the U.S. military strength will go from 31,000 to 100,000). Holbrooke stated that the main priority of the surge is the development of Afghan agriculture, which at one time in the past was quite prosperous."
AP Photo
January 8, 2010
"Hands Off Kashmir!"
Op-Ed, World Policy Blog
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"The temptation for U.S. policymakers to get involved in the dispute is latent. In October 2008, Barack Obama, a month before he was elected, stated that 'working with Pakistan and India to try to resolve the Kashmir crisis in a serious way' was among the 'critical tasks for the next administration.' Pakistan, as the irridentist party, would welcome it; indeed, the attacks by Pakistan-sponsored groups in Kashmir and elsewhere in India may be aimed in part in provoking the U.S. to intervene on the dispute."
AP Photo
December 8, 2009
"A Toilet in Somalia"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...al-Qaeda and like-minded terrorists don't need Afghanistan to carry out terrorist operations. These can be mounted from anywhere or anyplace, from Yemen to Somalia, to Hamburg or to ... Detroit....Then, one may ask, since al-Qaeda's terrorists, numbering in the hundreds, are now in a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas, why are we sending thousands more combat troops into ... Afghanistan!"
AP Photo
Fall 2008
"Afghanistan: Partners in Time"
Journal Article, World Policy Journal, 25th Anniversary Edition, issue 3, volume 25
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"If the Pakistani authorities cannot or will not play their part, a way should be found to scale back significantly the U.S. and NATO military commitment in Afghanistan. Our fundamental problem, it should be emphasized, is with Al Qaeda, and secondarily with the Taliban, who sheltered Al Qaeda. We cannot be perceived as moving toward a colonial war, as happened in Vietnam...."
AP Photo
December 21, 2011
"A War to End All Misbegotten Wars"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Hopefully, the Iraq experience will put an end to the succession of misbegotten wars of the U.S., the most recent one before that being the manifestly more tragic Vietnam War (1963–1975), with 58,000 American soldiers killed, a war that was claimed to be an anti-Communist struggle rather than what it was: the extension of an anti-colonial war."
AP Photo
September 5, 2010
"Afghanistan: The Diem Moment?"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...[A] removal of Mr. Karzai might turn out to be more straightforward. Karzai is wholly reliant, for election victories and even his own security, on a small cabal of power-brokers. If persuaded that it is in their interest, these men might convoke Mr. Karzai and offer him and his family members and relatives safe passage out of Afghanistan to a country of his choice — perhaps one of those McMansions in Dubai that were paid for out of Kabul Bank funds."
AP Photo
March 17, 2010
"Afghanistan: From Nation-Building to Governance and Back Again"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Ambassador Holbrooke is not one to sit idly on his mandate. He has assembled an impressive and numerous personal staff. He plans to carry out a "civil surge" in Afghanistan that will increase the numbers of U.S. civilians there from the 300 who were in-country at the beginning of 2009 to 900 at the end of 2010. (Over the same period, he said, the U.S. military strength will go from 31,000 to 100,000). Holbrooke stated that the main priority of the surge is the development of Afghan agriculture, which at one time in the past was quite prosperous."
