The Taliban announced a new caretaker government on Tuesday evening and said the acting head of state will be Mullah Hassan Akhund. Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made the announcement and said the new acting prime minister will be Mullah Hassan Akhund. The Taliban swept …

In the press conferences that have followed the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the group has projected a changed image. Its spokesmen have attempted to distance this Taliban from the legacy of brutal force and violent oppression of women and ethnic minorities that characterised their 1990s regime, instead emphasising their concern …

Unsurprisingly, the Taliban’s rapid takeover of power across Afghanistan has prompted headlines about a renewed “civil war”. This is misleading, however. “Civil war” implies a situation where an insurgent movement is taking on a ruling government. But in 2001, it was not just the US-backed Northern Alliance that removed the …

If Washington is going to deter a militant China, it needs the support of democratic India. Unfortunately, India looks like the country most immediately — and perhaps most adversely — affected by the Biden-created debacle. As a result, New Delhi could decide to side not with America but with a …

À la tête des forces spéciales, ce militaire a pris le pouvoir par la force dimanche 5 septembre. Ancien légionnaire français, rentré en Guinée il y a à peine trois ans, il avait réussi à obtenir la confiance d’Alpha Condé, contre lequel il s’est retourné. Ce dimanche 5 septembre, il …

Finance will need to be at the centre of decision-making not only in Western capitals, but also in Taliban-controlled Kabul. Not even the most pessimistic predictions anticipated the speed with which the Taliban would overrun the incumbent regime in Afghanistan, but it was always certain that the US military withdrawal …

Russia looks to the Taliban as a stabilising force in Afghanistan – and this may mean formal recognition of the new regime in the country. During the farewell meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Moscow last month, Putin spoke in public about the Taliban …

The choices that NATO, the US and the UK now face in Afghanistan when dealing with the Taliban will involve unpleasant compromises, but it is necessary for Western governments to start deciding on their priorities and considering their options. The collapse of the Afghan government and the subsequent crisis in …

Recent developments in Afghanistan constitute a strategic gain for Pakistan, at least for the moment. In more than 40 years of civil strife, war and instability in Afghanistan, it would not be wrong to say that its neighbours have often pursued their own strategic interests by manipulating the Afghan political …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he hopes the Taliban will behave in a “civilized” manner in Afghanistan so the global community can maintain diplomatic ties with Kabul. “Russia is not interested in the disintegration of Afghanistan. If this happens, then there will be no one to talk to,” Putin …