March 17, 2021 Eurasia, Middle Orient
A security source said on Monday that competent authorities foiled a terrorist operation intended to target Damascus with explosive belts, killing three terrorists and arresting three others. The source added that in cooperation with honest citizens in Zakyah and Kanaker in the Damascus countryside, the terrorist operation, plotted by terrorists …
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March 17, 2021 Eurasia
As promised, President Biden and his administration are moving swiftly to repair America’s damaged relationship with its NATO allies — following four years in which President Donald Trump bitterly complained that they weren’t pulling their weight. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s first official call after his confirmation was to the long-suffering …
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March 17, 2021 Eurasia, Kavkaz
The shattering events Armenia has undergone in the last two years—the 2018 Velvet Revolution, the defeat in the 2020 Karabakh war, and the resulting crisis—couldn’t fail to impact on the country’s foreign policy. The regime change sparked hopes that Armenia’s democratization would guarantee international support and protect it from external …
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March 17, 2021 Afghanistan, Eurasia, South East Asia
It’s been a year since the United States and the Taliban reached their historic agreement on bringing peace to Afghanistan, but as expected, it has not led to any rapid results. Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have been taking place in the Qatari capital Doha since last …
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March 17, 2021 Afghanistan, Eurasia
Afghanistan news channel TOLOnews last week disclosed the contents of a letter that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had written to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. It concerned the slowness of progress in the peace process and the US’ intention to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by May 1. This …
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March 17, 2021 Eurasia, Middle Orient
There have now been 10 years of chaos in Syria, with many guilty actors. But efforts to reverse the course in the country are gaining steam. For example, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to the Gulf last week featured many prominent themes, but Syria really stood out. His trips …
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March 17, 2021 South East Asia
Surprise developments in protracted conflicts are rarely an overnight success. Nor do they happen in isolation or involve only the parties in the dispute. With regard to the India Pakistan deal on the Kashmir ceasefire, surely there were other actors at work, and more than one issue at play. It …
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March 17, 2021 Eurasia, South East Asia
President Joe Biden has much repair and restoration work to do in East Asia. Donald Trump seriously degraded the United States’ role in the region, helping Beijing to escalate the most hostile and confrontational US–China relationship in 50 years. Simultaneously, Trump undermined US credibility with the allies and partners that …
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March 17, 2021 Eurasia, Iran, Middle Orient
Recent clashes in the Iranian province of Sistan and Balochistan highlight Iran’s vulnerabilities as well as its inability to overcome trauma and control its demons. The clashes sparked by a crackdown on cross border fuel smuggling to neighbouring Pakistan achieved what past US and Saudi machinations failed to accomplish: ethnic …
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March 17, 2021 Africa, Eurasia
Forces of Libya’s eastern military strongman said they arrested a suspected senior local Islamic State fighter on Sunday in a southwestern town known to be a militant hideout. Mohammed Miloud was once an IS leader in the coastal city of Sirte, held by the group before they were driven out …
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