At the tender age of 26, Lalwani is figuring out the most effective policies for counterinsurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lalwani is a research fellow for the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation and a contributor to the AfPak Channel at www.foreignpolicy.com/afpak.
What’s the AfPak Channel?
It’s sort of a mix of a news aggregator, a blog, and informed comment about what’s going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I’m a contributor, along with about 30 to 40 other people — a lot of whom know more than I do about the region. It’s an online collaboration between New America and Foreign Policy magazine.
Where do you look for news coverage of the region?
I try to look at a number of different sources, and the channel has been a good aggregator. But I also try to look at publications from Pakistan and India and the Middle East. One of the problems that U.S. strategy has encountered is that we’ve misperceived other countries’ intentions and objectives, and you get a better understanding of those when you read the Pakistani papers and the Indian papers. And I look at a number of bloggers from the region, as well.
Any favorite bloggers come to mind?
The first one that comes to mind is chapatimystery.com. I think it’s by someone who’s currently at the University of Chicago, but it offers good commentary on the issues, and it’s informed and balanced with historical perspective.
For those Washingtonians who don’t know AfPak from Aflac, what’s a great introductory read?
I’ll have to shill my boss’ book, “Ghost Wars,” by Steve Coll. It’s one of the most authoritative analyses of the past 20 to 30 years of history with respect to U.S. foreign policy in the region. And it’s an engaging read.
— Leah Fabel
