Recent Posts

IntelBrief: Afghanistan in a State of ‘Durable Disorder’ Under the Taliban Government

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seems to have captured worldwide attention; yet under the Taliban, Afghanistan continues to exist in a state of ‘durable disorder,’ limping along without either fully collapsing or stabilizing. The immediate future in Afghanistan looks bleak, with little confidence that the Taliban will be able to fix …

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Can Emmanuel Macron relaunch France as a global security player?

Don’t let the war win is the mantra of members of Emmanuel Macron’s close circles. This means tackling a wide range of crisis situations that have been triggered by the conflict in Ukraine. The French president went into this weekend with a significant foreign and defence policy agenda to both …

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IntelBrief: French Withdrawal from Mali Leaves UN Peace Operation Vulnerable

Last Wednesday, November 9, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the end of Operation Barkhane, the counterterrorism operation established to address the jihadist threat in Mali. The departure of French counterterrorism forces will leave the UN peace operation in Mali – the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) – increasingly …

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