Another name mentioned is Michael Semple, an Irishman based in Boston at Harvard's Kennedy School who has extensive contacts with the Taliban.
Mr. Kashmiri, a former Pakistani special operations commando, has extensive contacts with Kashmiri militant groups as well as with Al Qaeda in Pakistan.
He has extensive contacts in business and politics in the regions where he operates, making him a key "fixer" in those areas.
"The military is the one who proudly claims to preserve and protect Buddhism in the country, but now they are killing the monks," said Aung Zaw, editor of The Irrawaddy, a magazine based in Thailand that has extensive contacts inside Myanmar.
Alexei Venediktov, who is the editor of Echo of Moscow, a liberal radio station, and who has extensive contacts in the Russian élite, told me a story about Putin's reaction to the Brexit vote, last June.
Over the past three weeks, nearly one-tenth of Iraq's 700,000 active soldiers have shed their uniforms, according to Michael Knights of the Washington Institute, who has extensive contacts in the Iraqi military.
"The opposition seems to have tactically withdrawn, to show up another day and at another time of its own choosing," said Rasool Nafisi, an Iran expert based in Virginia, who has extensive contacts in Tehran.
