Rory Stewart:

Without music, time has a very different quality.

In November, Stewart concluded:

We will not be able to eliminate the Taliban from the rural areas of Afghanistan’s south, so we will have to work with Afghans to contain the insurgency instead. All this is unpleasant for Western politicians who dream of solving the fundamental problems and getting out. They will soon be tempted to give up.

Recently:

"You Westerners have your watches," the leader observed. "But we Taliban have time."

Stewart, a year ago:

If Gertrude Bell is a heroine, it is not as a visionary but as a witness to the absurdity and horror of building nations for peoples with other loyalties, models, and priorities.

What I've Learned