US President Barack Obama, in a supplemental budgetary request, urged Congress to release $1.6 billion of economic assistance to Afghanistan, which will go towards meeting his commitment of increased civilian aid to the country. Additionally, the Obama administration has requested $3.6 billion to help man, train, and equip the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSFs), including the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National Police Force.1
Terrorism, ideology and misconceptions
Terrorism is at the forefront of international politics and is a major crisis of our age. Not found in pre-modern times, this phenomenon finds its root in ideological movements and not in religion. While referring to different forms of terrorism several scholars have suggested nihilism in modern times as the source of the problem. They view nihilism as a decline in values, or in other words, a tendency of ‘devaluing all values’.