The dramatic siege of Afghanistan by the Taliban has posed serious questions about the stability, security, geostrategy, and geopolitics of the Central Asia Republics (CARs). A recent UN report highlights the presence of over 10,000 foreign fighters from the neighbouring countries of Central Asia, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous …

Twenty years after 9/11, the lessons of that day are still inconclusive. It was traumatizing for a generation. It was just after midnight when two Border Police officers on guard duty at a base near Kibbutz Bahan in central Israel were fired upon. According to the Foreign Ministry’s subsequent report, …

MIDDLE ISRAEL: The enemy that struck 20 years ago tomorrow will not be defeated until called by its real name, and confronted jointly by all its targets. “Good evening,” a stern-faced George Bush told a stunned American nation 20 years ago tomorrow. “Today,” he said, “our way of life, our …

BEHIND THE LINES: In the southwest, the outside powers of relevance are Iran and Russia. The arrangement in place from July 2018 until now was the product of an uneasy standoff between them. In a new ceasefire agreement that may bring an end to a 75-day Assad-regime siege on the …

Pashtun practices include circumcision on the eighth day and refraining from mixing meat and milk — Is there a connection to ancient Hebrews? With the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban just shy of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the world’s attention has once …

The Taliban announced their caretaker cabinet 24 days after taking control of Kabul, but more than half of the cabinet members are on the UN sanction’s list. The Taliban seized capital Kabul on August 15 hours before President Ghani fled the country and they are now in full control of …

The U.S. and international partners should navigate carefully but proactively or risk making a dire economic and humanitarian situation worse. The Taliban’s unexpectedly rapid and complete victory over the now defunct Islamic Republic of Afghanistan brings with it yet another shock to the long-suffering Afghan people and the country’s very …

How will the U.S., international community and the region engage with a government comprised of Taliban stalwarts? As part of the Taliban’s bid to re-establish the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” the militant group announced the line up for its caretaker government on Tuesday. Despite several leading Taliban figures saying the …

While prospects for actual conflict use are slim, Belgrade hopes that by buying Israeli weapons it can alleviate some of the pressure it may face from Washington over Kosovo and ties with Russia and China. Israel’s defense industry just added another buyer to its list. Speaking to the Serbian national …

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has banned the pro-opposition Orient News channel from media coverage in Idlib, raising fears about the state of press freedom in Syria’s Idlib. The pro-Syrian opposition Orient News channel revealed on its Twitter account Aug. 24, “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham [HTS] has decided to end the channel’s media …