At the sidelines of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Tehran, Iran, the governments of Afghanistan, India and Iran will hold a small conclave.

Cleverly, the Washington establishment seeks to reorder events so that it can take credit for things it did not do and pass on the blame for things it did do. President Barack Obama not only wants to share the Arab Spring's glory but, with the Group of Eight (G8) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), wants to help shape its aftermath. On the other hand, Obama seeks to avert his eyes from the mess of Afghanistan and pay less heed to the desperate rants from President Hamid Karzai about the manufactured futility of his country.

The esteemed historian and novelist on how there is only one path for the United States in Afghanistan: withdrawal. The following talk was given on April 19 to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the London Review of Books. Afghanistan now is at a critical stage.

Several key picks were confirmed, including the ministers for foreign affairs, justice and counter-narcotics, but 10 out of 17 candidates were voted down, meaning Karzai is still without confirmed leaders for over a third of his ministries.