Abstract: Six themes emerge from a close examination of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces’ (ANDSF) collapse in 2021: the ANDSF collapse was months—if not years—in the making; the United States did not give the ANDSF everything they needed to be independently successful; the ANDSF did put up a …

Abstract: Iran-backed militias have been scrambling to recover after the loss of their patriarchs Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on January 3, 2020. Attempts to preserve a top-down, Iran-directed system of command have met resistance, both from independent-minded upstarts like Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and the fragmenting powerbases within Kata’ib …

The Saudi-led coalition also said it struck military targets in the capital Sanaa related to drone attacks on the kingdom. Houthi authorities in Yemen reported several deaths on Thursday in the fight with Saudi forces. Two Yemeni citizens were killed by Saudi gunfire in Saada governorate near the border with …