After the sudden collapse of the Afghan government and military and the victory of the Taliban, some experts have warned of the danger of a failed state run by a Salafi-jihadi group closely allied with Al-Qaeda. Perhaps a bigger concern may be the danger of a not-failed state, possibly even a successful authoritarian one, run by a Salafi-jihadi group closely […]

The fall of the democratically elected government in Afghanistan is an American betrayal of democracy. The fall did not begin yesterday – it began with the Doha agreement signed in February 2020. The U.S. and other Western powers were pretending hard to push forward a non-option in Kabul, a power-sharing agreement between the Taliban and the democratically elected government of […]

On August 15, 2021, forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban) advanced on the outskirts of the country’s capital of Kabul after conquering most of Afghanistan in the space of a week. Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters landed atop the U.S. Embassy in the capital to evacuate personnel to Kabul International Airport, as Afghans and foreigners scrambled to […]

Georgy Asatryan, an expert on Afghanistan, at the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as a member of Russian International Affairs Council gave an interview to Hayk Khalatyan of the Eurasia Daily on developments in Afghanistan. He called the Taliban victory “an extremely harmful and dangerous example for the international relations system and stability as a whole.” How did this […]

Mohammad Naeem, the Spokesman for the Taliban’s Political Bureau and a member of its negotiations delegation in Qatar referred to a quote by German Foreign Minister stating that Germany would deny Afghanistan of aid if the Taliban implements the Islamic shari’a in the country, saying that this was “unreasonable.” He made his remarks in an interview that aired on Russia […]

Built and trained at a two-decade cost of $83 billion, Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly and completely — in some cases without a shot fired — that the ultimate beneficiary of the American investment turned out to be the Taliban. They grabbed not only political power but also U.S.-supplied firepower — guns, ammunition, helicopters and more. The Taliban captured […]

The Taliban have agreed to allow “safe passage” from Afghanistan for civilians struggling to join a U.S.-directed airlift from the capital, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said Tuesday, although a timetable for completing the evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and others has yet to be worked out with the country’s new rulers.

The Taliban vowed Tuesday to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists as part of a publicity blitz aimed at reassuring world powers and a fearful population. Following a lightning offensive across Afghanistan that saw many cities fall to the insurgents without a fight, the Taliban have sought to […]

Over the years Britain’s own foreign policy strategy has shifted from the blind presumption of the Blair years to a hard-nosed realism The most remarkable thing about America’s decision to cut and run from Afghanistan was that it took so long to come about. This is not to suggest that President Biden’s decision to pull the plug on two decades […]

L’offensive des talibans va permettre à la Chine de souligner les contradictions américaines et de se présenter comme la première ligne de défense face aux terrorismes musulmans. « What Went Wrong ? » Dans un court essai, écrit avant les attentats du 11-Septembre, mais publié peu de temps après, l’historien britannique devenu américain, Bernard Lewis, s’interrogeait sur le rapport entre […]