Afghanistan

The US’ Afghanization Strategy In Ukraine War

The current developments related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine can only be considered the tip of an iceberg, showing itself in the form of the collapse of the US-centered security system. This order has already proven to seek to make small powers pay the toll to maintain and achieve …

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After Afghanistan, EU Crisis Intervention Should Go Big, Not Go Home

It is difficult to speak of European ambitions for international crisis management against the backdrop of the images from Kabul over the past few weeks, which seem to tell a story of the failure of Western interventionist policies. But that discussion is urgently needed. Yes, it will be necessary to …

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It’s Not Too Late for the United Nations to Act in Afghanistan

The images of humanitarian chaos and the deteriorating situation for women after the swift Taliban takeover of Kabul have left the international community grasping for options. In the face of Afghan women’s desperate pleas for support, women’s rights NGOs in the United States recently called for a United Nations peacekeeping …

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The Enemy Within: The Impact of Corruption on Security Force Assistance

With corruption playing a significant role in the outcome of recent security force assistance missions, a different approach to tackling the problem is needed. An issue that haunts more or less all security force assistance missions to various degrees is widespread and large-scale corruption in host institutions. Such corruption can …

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Biden Administration Announces Allocation of Frozen Afghan Assets

On February 11, President Joseph Biden issued an Executive Order enabling the administration to distribute frozen funds from Afghanistan’s central bank between representatives of victims of 9/11 in the U.S. and humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban’s assumption of control of the Afghan government, the United States government froze …

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Counter-Terrorism, Afghanistan, Top Priorities For UN Cooperation With Eurasian Security Body

Conflict prevention, counter-terrorism and support to Afghanistan, top the list of issues on which the UN and the Collective Security Treaty Organization – a Eurasian regional grouping comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan – should bolster their cooperation, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on …

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The tragic US exit from Afghanistan was rooted in decades of failure

An important new Atlantic piece on the trauma of the withdrawal should be put in the wider context of American incompetence. The betrayal of Afghanistan was solidified years ago when U.S. leaders made promises they should have, or must have, known they could never keep. The inevitable consequences of creating …

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Taliban Demand US Reverse Decision To Freeze $7 Billion in Afghanistan’s Assets

The Taliban are demanding that the United States reverse a decision to freeze $7 billion in assets belonging to the previous government of Afghanistan, which the Biden administration plans to use to compensate victims of the 9/11 attacks and to provide post-war aid to Afghanistan. The Taliban, which have controlled …

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Six months of Taliban: Afghans safer, poorer, less hopeful

Afghanistan has undergone a dramatic transformation in half a year of Taliban rule. The country feels safer, less violent than it has in decades, but the once aid-fueled economy is barreling toward collapse. Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled or have been evacuated, including large numbers of educated elites. …

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US steals billions in Afghan bank funds

In an action that combines brazen theft, imperialist brutality and unlimited hypocrisy, the Biden administration announced Friday that it will seize control of $7 billion in Afghanistan financial assets, held largely at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, rather than return them to the Afghanistan central bank. Media attention …

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