TimeLine Layout

December, 2021

  • 20 December

    The Laws of War Don’t Apply to the Kabul Drone Strike

    Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense released a one-page summary of its findings from an investigation into a drone strike in Kabul that killed a family of 10 during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. U.S. military officials had received intelligence that a specific car had visited a “suspected” Islamic …

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  • 20 December

    The U.S. Failure in Afghanistan Is Not Pakistan’s Fault

    The anger directed by Americans at Pakistan in the wake of the disorderly end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan is understandable. After all, Pakistan really did give shelter to the Afghan Taliban, something that played a vital role in the Taliban’s eventual victory. However, the reaction in Washington is …

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  • 20 December

    At Both Ends of Eurasia, the Era of ‘Pax Americana’ Is Coming to an End

    There are any number of ways to measure one of the great secular transformations of our time: the decline of the United States’ power relative not only to a rising rival like China, but to the rest of the world generally. From 1960 to the present, the American share of …

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  • 20 December

    The U.S. Faces Hard Choices on Strategic Ambiguity in Europe and Asia

    Russia’s ongoing military buildup along its border with Ukraine has cast into sharp relief the debate about how the United States, and its allies, can most effectively ensure security in the no man’s land lying beyond NATO’s eastern perimeter. Meanwhile, China’s mounting campaign of military pressure and intimidation against Taiwan …

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  • 19 December

    How The Classical Gold Standard Fueled The Rise Of The State – Analysis

    Throughout much of the past century, the idea of a gold standard for national currencies has been routinely linked with laissez-faire economics and “classical liberalism”—also known as “libertarianism.” It’s not difficult to see why. During the second half of the nineteenth century—as free-market liberalism was especially influential in much of …

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  • 19 December

    Bosnia On The Brink Again: Is 2022 Going To Be The Year Everything Falls Apart? – Analysis

    Mirko Zecevic Tadic was a member of the self-styled Croatian Defense Council during the Bosnian War. He had just reached adulthood as the fighting broke out in 1992, and eventually lost his right leg below the knee in a conflict that pitted neighbor against neighbor and majority Bosniaks, Serbs, and …

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  • 19 December

    Russia-China Alliance Poses Defining Challenge For The West

    Russian President Vladimir Putin had been isolated on Ukraine in a series of major summits throughout December, but that changed significantly on Wednesday when his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping offered his strong support, strengthening an emerging Moscow-Beijing axis. The Chinese premier’s alliance with Putin — one of the key factors …

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  • 19 December

    Russian President’s Significant Political Reachout To India – India

    Cognizant of India’s growing strategic denouement with Russia, visibly so in 2021, in wake of Russia’s outsized priority to China and pivot to Pakistan in its South Asian policy formulations, Russian President Putin made a significant six-hour dash to India, to rebalance Russia’s fraying strategic partnership with India on December …

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  • 19 December

    Russians Split On Responsibility For Worsening Tensions Over Ukraine – Analysis

    Older Russians blame NATO for rising tensions between the Kremlin and Western powers over Ukraine, according to a public survey conducted this week by an independent Moscow-based pollster. Across all age groups, half of those polled by the Levada Center believe the United States and other NATO nations are “the …

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  • 19 December

    When Putin Will Invade Ukraine

    While much of the world wonders when Russia will invade Ukraine, the US Senate’s number 2 ranking member on the Armed Forces committee has added something new: When will the US invade Russia? Senator Roger Wicker disclosed that a US invasion of Russia is on the table. He spoke on …

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