Afghanistan, Pakistan and India: Crossroads of Conflict
Date: February 19-21, 2010
Location: Camden, Maine
Time:
Description: For conference details - http://www.camdenconference.org
Moorhead "Mike" Kennedy
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Location: Northeast Harbor Library, Mellon Room
Time: 2-4:00 pm
Description: Moorhead (Mike) Kennedy will present: "Coming to Terms with the Jihadism," a presentation and discussion at Northeast Harbor Library, Tuesday, January 26, in the Mellon Room. The public is also welcome for this important admission-free event sponsored by the Acadia Senior College and the Camden Conference.
"Throughout his upcoming lecture, Moorhead Kennedy, former Iranian hostage, points out that we 'westerners' are not the only group to have to come to terms. The Jihadists are a counterrevolution, a reaction against having had to come to terms not just with western political and military domination, but cultural ascendancy, resulting in a loss of identity.
Mr. Kennedy asks whether using troops to compel Afghanis to come to terms with western practices, such as democracy, will not stimulate a further reaction. He concludes by examining some Jihadi demands such as a renewed caliphate and Islamic culture, asking whether these necessarily run counter to our national interests."
Seth Singleton: Afghanistan-Pakistan Question
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009
Location: Jesup Library, Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor
Time: 2:00-4:00 pm
Description: We are now in the 8th year of conflict in Afghanistan and are awaiting decisions from the Obama administration on the future course of the war. Dr. Seth Singleton says, “We will look at the present situation and its uncertainties, outline the disagreements over US goals and interests, explore costs and benefits, add the pressures of American politics and financial capabilities, and throw these issues open for discussion.”
In Afghanistan, the Taliban control most of the south and are present in 80% of the country. The Karzai government, now facing a runoff election, relies on warlords and corruption and has very little grassroots or tribal support. U.S. General McChrystal says saving the situation will require at least 40,000 additional US troops, in addition to
30,000 NATO forces also there. And nation-building will take many years.
In Pakistan, where Al Qaeda is now based, terrorism escalates in Pakistan’s heartland as
its army attacks Taliban-Al Qaeda strongholds. Civil war or state breakdown would put Pakistan's nuclear weapons at risk of falling into terrorist hands. Many Pakistanis blame the United States for their troubles. What is to be done? President Obama's team is examining all options, and we will also.
For many years Seth Singleton studied and wrote about Soviet influence in Asia and Africa and revolutions in developing countries, including Afghanistan. In the 1980s, along with teaching, he served as consultant to the US government. Since then, he has lived and worked in Russia, Ecuador, and Vietnam, and has lectured in about twenty countries including China, Mongolia, Sudan, Somalia, and Kazakhstan. Dr. Singleton is on the Camden Conference Board and Program Committee. He lives in Hall Quarry and now teaches international security and US foreign policy at the University of Maine.