Eurasia

Key Points More than a year and a half on from its seizure of power, it is clear the Taliban regime rejects the idea of a pluralist political order and seems determined to impose the same restrictive social policies as were implemented in 1996-2001.As actions intended to isolate and punish …

During Russian forces’ spring assault on Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, air strikes played a key role in their attempts to encircle the city. One night in late March, Russian aircraft dropped 11 bombs on Ukraine’s Sumy region in a major attack. And last week, a Russian jet accidently released a …

On November 30, 2022, the Islamic State’s spokesman Abu ‘Umar al-Muhajir made the somewhat surprising announcement that the group’s “caliph” and leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi had been killed, while adding that the group’s Shura council had agreed on a successor going by the name of Abu al-Hussayn al-Hussayni al-Qurashi.1 …

Conflict in Abraham Accords nation demonstrates limits of US power, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia watch anxiously. The Sudanese civil war bears witness to the global disorder spreading in the Middle East, in the wake of the Ukraine conflict and the steady weakening of American leadership. Sudan had raised the …

Oil transactions between China and the Gulf may be settled in Chinese currency, but experts do not foresee an end to the dollar’s dominance soon. As Saudi Arabia eyes entry into the BRICS group of nations, there are fears that the kingdom’s vast oil reserves alongside China’s economic power could …

At least 126 politicians, journalists, lawyers and artists have been detained in an operation that observers call an intimidation tactic before the May 14 elections. More than 120 people were detained across Turkey on Tuesday in an alleged counter-terrorism operation that targeted mainly Kurdish politicians, journalists, lawyers and artists less …

The United States and its G7 allies wrapped up their foreign ministers’ meeting in Karuizawa, Japan this week on a note of strength and unity. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who facilitated the gathering, couldn’t help but brag about its success during the closing press conference, stressing that “the strength …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s trip last week to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was precisely what you would expect from the head of the world’s oldest military alliance. He toured the capital with senior Ukrainian officials, inspected some of the destroyed Russian military equipment left over from Russian President Vladimir …

Xi Jinping’s phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskiy was a long time coming, but it should not have come as a surprise. Beijing is on everyone’s shortlist when it comes to prospective peacemakers in Ukraine. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is no exception. “I know I can count on you to …

Over the last year Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has produced a flood tide of commentary, with largely unconstructive volleys back and forth. Roughly speaking there are two main camps. Realists and progressives blame Russia’s invasion principally, sometimes solely, on NATO expansion—a needless, provocative policy that, as they see it, posed …