South East Asia

Philosopher Georg Hegel declared the only lesson of history is that we do not learn from history. As the US prepares for the final pullout from Afghanistan and what will soon follow as the fall of the country to the Taliban an entire generation of us wonder if this is …

Israel Aerospace Industries has announced the sale of dozens of counter-UAV Drone Guard systems to an unnamed South Asian country. The deal, announced in early July, was valued in the tens of millions of dollars. Israeli companies often don’t identify their customers, leaving observers to speculate about who acquired the …

China, which shares a tiny 47-mile-long border with Afghanistan, has long coveted developing closer ties with Kabul, not least because of the large, untapped reserves of mineral wealth that Afghanistan possesses. Rich in copper, lithium, marble, gold and uranium, Afghanistan’s mineral wealth has been estimated to exceed in excess of …

As the U.S. looks to station over-the-horizon capabilities to address issues in Afghanistan, Central Asia is an obvious locale. Both Russia and the Taliban, separately, have warned the states of Central Asia against hosting U.S. forces following Washington’s looming exit from Afghanistan. While it’s clear that U.S. and Central Asian …

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan handed over his command at a ceremony in the capital of Kabul on Monday, as America winds down its 20-year military presence and Taliban insurgents continue to gain territory across the country. Gen. Scott Miller transfered authority to Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head …

The country’s long journey of competing political visions begins in 1964, and right now, the future seems up for grabs. The Taliban are making rapid territorial gains in Afghanistan’s countryside while Afghan security forces coalesce around urban centers. But the only sustainable path that will bring peace is a political …

Over the last week, I have been watching the Taliban sweep across the map of northern Afghanistan, capturing places that I first visited in 2001 at the beginning of the US-backed war. Taliban fighters have seized the main bridge to Tajikistan on the Amu Darya, a river that I crossed …

Afghan Air Force Major Dastagir Zamaray had grown so fearful of Taliban assassinations of off-duty forces in Kabul that he decided to sell his home to move to a safer pocket of Afghanistan’s sprawling capital. Instead of being greeted by a prospective buyer at his realtor’s office earlier this year, …

Both sides want peace and stability in the region. What’s next for the bilateral relationship as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan? For the last two decades, U.S.-Pakistan relations have been defined by the war in Afghanistan and counterterrorism concerns. With the United States military withdrawal almost complete, the relationship should …

Introduction On July 7, 2021 Iran hosted talks between the Afghan Government and Taliban (the Taliban delegation was led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai). The same day, the Taliban attacked the Badghis provincial capital Qalat-i-Naw. Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif emphatically stated that the Afghan people should decide their own …