You can catch me with Jerome McDonald on Worldview. Let me know how I did.
Good job! One question: you have, on more than one occasion, pointed to the collapse of the civilian state structure in Swat as one factor underlying the rise of the Taliban (i.e. as opposed to religious radicalization); I am insufficiently familiar with the history of the region, and my question is, what is different about Swat from other parts of Pakistan? Is the problem that Swat is not administered the way the "mainland" parts of Pakistan (e.g. the provinces) are? If so, then is the Swat-type situation possible in other parts of Pakistan's Northern Areas? Thanks.
On the Holbrooke/Kashmir point you mentioned, you might have mentioned that a lobbying effort might be responsible for why the original proposal was not implemented (not that I am complaining, but thought it was instructive and interesting): http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/01/23/india_s_stealth_lobbying_against_holbrooke My favorite was Zelikow's statement that "leaving India out of the title actually opens up [Holbrooke's] freedom to talk to them..." -- Orwell, anyone?
I am miffed that you didn't tell us beforehand so we could have called in and harangued you :D
But I did: http://twitter.com/sepoy/status/1415185986
LOL, so you did! But after having fought an unsuccessful battle against resisting blogging and losing the rearguard action against joining Facebook, I am making a last stand and holding out against twitter - despite the entreaties of pretty much everyone else I know who have jumped on this bandwagon; probably only a matter of time before I cave as it is a doomed attempt at resistance but I will hold out for a while yet ;)
[...] Also see: Legends of the fail by Manan Ahmed, Manan Ahmed with Jerome McDonald on Worldview. [...]