China’s offensive cyber capabilities have been under the scanner for a few years now. Even though China does not have a formal cyber offensive strategy, the capability mix and the changing approach that China has developed in the cyber offensive realm remain quite consequential. A recent U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hearing disclosed a lot […]

The notion of nationality in India is a dynamic tapestry woven from diverse cultural threads, historical legacies, and contemporary socio-political dynamics. Rooted in a rich heritage that spans millennia, India’s concept of nationality has evolved significantly over time, reflecting the complexities of its pluralistic society. Traditionally, India’s nationality narrative has been intricately linked to its ancient civilization, where the idea […]

Introduction As the year 2024 began, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (the Movement of the Pakistani Taliban, TTP) appeared intent at creating – militarily, ideologically, strategically – a mini emirate in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province now incorporating South and North Waziristan and other tribal districts, the TTP’s traditional strongholds. Whereas, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban), the […]

In an interview on the Kuwaiti podcast “Bidon Waraq [Without Papers],” published on YouTube on September 28, 2023, Kuwaiti Salafi scholar Othman Al-Khamis made a controversial statement in which he declared that Shi’ites who believe in certain writings authored by Shi’ite scholars should be considered unbelievers. This statement has ignited a fierce and heated debate on various Arabic language social […]

On February 19, 2024, during a search operation, Police recovered a pressure cooker bomb, weighing two kilograms, planted by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres at Kotgul in the Bhamragarh tehsil (revenue unit) of Gadchiroli District. The explosive was buried in the ground in the forest, with the apparent intention of targeting the Security Forces (SFs). On February 7, 2024, […]

On Feb. 18 and 19, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened a meeting in Doha, Qatar, to discuss the “evolving situation” in Afghanistan and future engagement with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban declined an invitation to the meeting after the U.N. refused their conditions, including recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Guterres reported that the […]

On February 21, 2024, a ‘deputy leader’ of National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), ‘Kilonser’ Khampei Opeiham Konyak, was shot dead by a group of six unidentified assailants, at his residence in Tizit in the Mon District of Nagaland, near the Assam-Arunachal border. The NSCN-IM leader reportedly succumbed to a suspected inter-factional assassination. Konyak had a complex history of affiliations, […]

On February 21, 2024, renowned Russian academic Sergey Karaganov published an analysis, titled “An Age of Wars? Article Two. What Is to be Done,” which is the second part of an article published a month earlier in the same media outlet, Russia in Global Affairs.[1] In the following analysis, Karaganov stressed that Russia needs a new comprehensive national Siberian strategy, […]

U.S. investors and businesses remain wary of the business climate in China amid an economic slowdown and crackdown on the private sector. Chinese President Xi Jinping is using his first trip to the U.S. in six years to try and lure back American investors and businesses spooked by his country’s authoritarian turn. But despite a warm response from U.S. business […]

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in response to the Russian Defense Minister’s remarks that Afghanistan is a threat to the countries of Central Asia, that since the IEA’s takeover, the territory of Afghanistan has been of no threat to any Central Asian country, and such statements and opinions are not in the interests of any party. “No foreign […]