Efforts are now well under way to establish a broad-based government for post-Taliban Afghanistan. As an initial step, a conference is currently being held in Bonn, under United Nations auspices. But what are its chances of success? No one familiar with Afghan politics can have any illusion about the difficulty of forming a government of [...]

Farida Nekzad is a journalist and managing editor of Pajhwak, an independent news agency in Afghanistan. Pajhwak reaches Afghans through over 50 radio and independent television stations, providing daily news reports on local and regional issues…

Afghanistan’s descent into conflict and instability in recent times began with the overthrow of the king in 1973. Zahir Shah was in Italy for an eye operation when he was deposed in a palace coup by his cousin, Mohammad Daoud…