opinion
POWER STRUGGLE
Distrust is only increasing, and that will bring more infighting. The beast in and around the Kremlin will turn against itself and eventually a new leader will consolidate power.
Dr. Evelyn N. Farkas has three decades of experience working on national security and foreign policy in the U.S. executive, legislative branch, private sector, and for international organizations overseas. In 2019-2020 she ran to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. She is currently the executive director of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. Prior to that, she was president of Farkas Global Strategies and a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Atlantic Council, and national security contributor for NBC/MSNBC.
She served from 2012 to 2015 as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia, also covering the Balkans, Caucasus, and conventional arms control. From 2010 to 2012, she was the senior advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and special advisor to the Secretary of Defense for the NATO Summit. Prior to that, she was the executive director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism and senior fellow at the American Security Project. From 2001 to 2008, she served as a professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee responsible for Asia Pacific, Western Hemisphere, Special Operations Command, and policy issues including combatting terrorism and export control.
The 30,000 extra troops headed to Afghanistan may be accompanied by nearly 60,000 contractors. But Evelyn Farkas says a civilian surge will be useless if no one’s keeping track of it—and Karzai.
Fresh from a trip to Kabul, Evelyn Farkas says the White House should ignore naysayers on troop increases in Afghanistan and instead "'carpet bomb them with projects.'"
Lethargy pervades the U.S. effort in Afghanistan at a time when urgent changes are needed. Evelyn Farkas, a member of last week’s election-monitoring delegation, explains what it will take to turn around the country.