Although there are potential security and economic benefits for Moscow to be gained from closer ties to Afghanistan, they will be difficult to achieve. Ahead of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum—which has been attended by a Taliban delegation since 2022—the Kremlin handed a PR victory to the rulers of Afghanistan. The Russian foreign and justice ministries submitted a […]

Exploring the military and security links of China’s universities. What’s the problem? The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building links between China’s civilian universities, military and security agencies. Those efforts, carried out under a policy of leveraging the civilian sector to maximise military power (known as ‘military–civil fusion’), have accelerated in the past decade. Research for the China Defence Universities […]

Narendra Modi’s grand plan to tame the restive province masks the barren indifference, injustice and violence of the Indian state toward citizens it has long considered alien. In early March, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to the airport here in the capital of the Himalayan state of Kashmir and made his way by convoy to a 30,000-seat stadium close […]

The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Hamza Salih bin Sa’id al-Ghamdi, a veteran member of Al Qaeda who now serves on the terror group’s shura, executive leadership council. Rewards for Justice described Ghamdi, a Saudi citizen, as a “key senior leader.” Al Qaeda’s shura consists […]

An analytical overview of India’s security architecture through the lens of state capacity. In recent years, India has asserted its desire not simply to be a balancing power but to become a leading power on the world stage. As India’s economic development has steadily progressed, so too have its foreign policy and security ambitions. However, India’s ability to sustain high […]

Pakistan insists it has stayed neutral on Russia’s war on Ukraine. But it now faces a difficult choice. Days before Switzerland hosts a global summit aimed at thrashing out a path towards peace in Ukraine, Pakistan is trapped in a quandary – should it attend? Pakistan has maintained a neutral stance on Russia’s war on Ukraine, and many analysts believe […]