The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its partner countries in the Asia-Pacific are increasingly concerned about the challenges that an assertive China could pose to global security. Based on the report ‘NATO 2030: United for a New Era’ dated November 2020, these challenges are multi-domain. A political strategy is …
Read More »Yearly Archives: 2021
Iran Tests Upgraded Version Of Mersad Missile Defense System
Iran’s Army tested an upgraded version of the Mersad missile defense system in the country’s central desert. The Mersad-16 homegrown missile defense system fired missiles to shoot down the intended targets. Mersad is a medium-altitude surface-to-air missile system with electronic warfare capabilities. According to General Khoshqalb, the Air Defense Force’s …
Read More »Houthi Drone Attack On Saudi Arabia’s Abha Airport Wounds 8, Damages Plane
The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen were accused of war crimes on Tuesday after they launched two armed drones targeting Abha airport and a ballistic missile aimed at Najran in the south of the Kingdom. Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed the drones and the missile. Eight people were injured …
Read More »AfPak Takes On A New Meaning With Rise Of The Taliban – Analysis
Recent attacks on Kabul’s international airport by the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate raise multiple questions as well as the spectre of paradigm shifts in the drivers and expanding geography of political violence. The attacks have called into question the Taliban’s ability to maintain security and keep a lid on the …
Read More »Afghan Taliban 2.0 Regime In Kabul Is Perceptionally A ‘China-Pakistan-Russia Trilateral Franchise’ – Analysis
The Afghan Taliban 2.0 Regime which zoomed into power in Kabul on August 15 2021 by American default of what I have earlier termed as a geopolitical suicide is perceptionaly a “China-Pakistan-Russia Franchise” facilitated into power in Kabul by this Trilateral and that Afghan Taliban captured power not on the …
Read More »Qatar Emerges As Power Broker In New Afghanistan – Analysis
After 20 years, the Taliban regained control of Kabul on August 15 and became Afghanistan’s top authority with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following the capture of Kabul, the Taliban appear to be ostensibly adhering to international norms and seeking good relations …
Read More »Chinese Diplomacy And The Taliban In Afghanistan – Analysis
It is becoming increasingly obvious what kind of superpower China might be. Even as the international community watches the unfolding events in Afghanistan with concern, China has moved quickly to further its interests in the region. For Beijing, it is business as usual. Beijing has been quick to announce that …
Read More »India And The Taliban – Analysis
The return of the Taliban in an Afghanistan abandoned by both its fleeing President and the US forces infuses a perilous complexity into India’s strategic environment. The US’s chastened retreat, rather than withdrawal, from this embattled land-locked country of over 35 million puts the clock back to the time when …
Read More »The Roots Of US Failure In Afghanistan – OpEd
The rapid collapse of Afghanistan has led to predictable finger-pointing about who is to blame for “losing Afghanistan.” Both President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, laudably wanted to end the quagmire. Both made blunders. Most recently, under Biden, Trump’s deadline for withdrawal was ignored, a Trump-era crisis response …
Read More »Afghanistan: Sharp Regression – Analysis
Though just two weeks have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, fear among masses, as expected, has spread like wildfire across Afghanistan, forcing thousands to run towards the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, to escape a dreaded future. Unsurprisingly, the Kabul Airport and its surroundings have …
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