For some time, I have been writing that the US has lost sight of its al Qaeda-rationalized strategic objectives in Afghanistan and stumbled into a civil war.

Jon Weinberg is a research intern at the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force. Last week, Zalmay Khalilzad, former US Ambassador to the UN, and Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) spoke at RAND’s “Afghanistan: Basic Questions–Strategy Choices” conference. Both emphasized that key strategic choices must be considered before a decision on troops is made.

Launch in external player With President Obama off to Tokyo next week to kickoff his first trip to Asia as president, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is hosting a public forum today to discuss the administration’s policy options and challenges in the region.

WASHINGTON, DC — 10:00 am — Vice President Joe Biden was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania and has lived for decades in Wilmington, Delaware — both working middle class communities that have been under siege from both domestic and international economic forces.

Tonight there is a classical music evening at the White House with Alisa Weilerstein (picture to left) and others — and some of my close friends are there.

(photo credit: Spencer Ackerman) US military crusade chronicler Spencer Ackerman has written a long, thoughtful treatment of the issues and players wrestling over the tough calls President Obama must soon make on America’s course in Afghanistan. It’s titled “The Decision” and appears in The National.

This is a guest note by BRIAN KATULIS, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. This article first appeared at the Center for American progress website on 2 November 2009, titled “Using U.S.

How can Washington avoid merely moving from one crisis to the next and instead engage in forward looking, strategic policy-making? To address this question, the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program is hosting an event TODAY from 12:15pm – 1:45pm with James Locher, President & CEO of the Project on National Security Reform.

Steve Clemons has discussed on this blog the importance of perceptions of power in international relations – and the immense harm that the Bush administration inflicted upon American interests by exposing America’s military, economic, and moral limits.

Matthew Hoh, the first US government official to formally resign his post because of objections to America’s course in Afghanistan, makes a compelling case that America has lost its strategic sensibilities in this war which President Obama has adopted as “the good war”.