A Real Force To Be Reckoned With

By Daniel Markey

Daniel Markey is a Senior Research Professor and Academic Director of the Global Policy Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.  He is the author of China’s Western Horizon:  Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia

As the Taliban causes havoc on the battlefield and with terrorist attacks, The Cipher Brief asked Daniel Markey, a former State Department official and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations to weigh in on the outlook for Afghanistan.   Markey says the Taliban’s car bombing in Kabul on Tuesday is symbolic and a reminder that the Taliban can strike anywhere.   But the attack needs to be viewed separately from the gains the Taliban is making on the battlefield.

The Cipher Brief: Some reports claim that the Taliban is at its strongest since 2001. What is your assessment of the Taliban’s current strength and capabilities? What does Tuesday’s attack demonstrate about the Taliban’s abilities?

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

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