Transcript
12:30 John Ward Anderson: Greetings everybody. I’m John Anderson, a senior editor at POLITICO, and I’ll be moderating today’s chat with Brookings foreign policy fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown. She’s an expert on illicit economies, counter-narcotics strategies, US foreign policy, Afghanistan and a range of other issues, and she also teaches at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
By way of background, I first travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan about 17 years ago and made dozens of return trips over the years – the most recent to Afghanistan in the fall of 2007 and to Pakistan in early 2008 following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. So I have more than a passing interest, and I’m looking forward to what Vanda has to say.
As usual, I’m grabbing the right to ask the first question. Vanda, there’s a meeting scheduled this afternoon between Obama, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. There is so much distrust and resentment between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- is there really any chance they can set aside their difference and distrust to jointly tackle the shared threats they both face from Islamic radicals – both Taliban and al-Qaeda -- in their border region? Color me skeptical.
12:30 Vanda Felbab-Brown: Hi John and everyone!
12:31 Vanda Felbab-Brown: Changing the dynamics between the two countries and its leaders will not be easy. Moreover, the level of distrust has expanded to the trilateral relationship -- there is a major trust deficit between Pakistan and the US and also the relationship between the new US administration and Kabul has not been easy.
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