On June 6, 2025, the notorious Russia-backed Wagner Group announced their imminent withdrawal from Mali. Operating in the Sahelian country for three and a half years, the private military company (PMC) has faced its fair share of criticism from the international security community. In October 2022, CEP discussed the potential challenges of the Wagner Group in Mali. Noting the PMC’s […]

Since the fall of Kabul in 2021, Afghanistan has become a safe haven for a wide range of Islamist terrorist groups. Even those opposing the governing Taliban regime, such as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), have been able to use the mountainous geography to create sanctuaries. By contrast, groups of the al-Qaeda (AQ) network operating in Afghanistan, have gained […]

Attacks Within China TIP’s attacks within China have proven difficult to attribute. Some of this is connected to the proliferation of aliases for TIP, which is further discussed in the next blog. The first attributions were made by Chinese authorities in connection with a spree of violence in the 1990s in Xinjiang. A list of these violent incidents was published […]

A powerful car bomb outside the headquarters of Pakistan’s paramilitary security forces killed at least 10 people on Tuesday and wounded 30 others, authorities said. Before detonating their vehicle, as many as six militants inside the car stepped outside and engaged troops in an intense shootout, according to the police. All six attackers were reported to have been killed. Residents […]

There are few spectacles as grotesque as Gaza under bombardment. But if anything can compete with it in sheer offensiveness, it is the sight of Pakistani generals dusting off their medals, tightening their waistlines, and flying off to Riyadh like underpaid mall cops called in to protect a billionaire’s parking lot. One is a tragedy. The other is a parody. […]

Shanghai veut concurrencer New York, Londres et Zurich et devenir le nouveau gardien des réserves d’or étrangères. Pékin a commencé à inciter activement d’autres pays à acheter des lingots d’or et à les stocker chez eux. Cela pourrait aider la Chine à renforcer le rôle du yuan en tant que monnaie de réserve face au dollar et à créer un […]

On April 22, 2025, five Islamist militants ambushed a group of tourists in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam, Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K, or Kashmir). The attackers executed 26 civilians, mostly Hindus, by shooting them in the head after allegedly asking them to recite the Kalima, the Islamic declaration of faith.a The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of […]

Over the past 20 years, external states have sought to gain influence in Africa by assisting African countries in fighting terrorist groups.1 Beginning with the United States’ entrance into the Sahara and Sahel in the years after 9/11 to stem the tide of al-Qaida’s presence there, Washington would soon also become involved in trying to tamp down al-Shabaab’s presence in […]

A Divide Is Growing Between the Region’s Continental and Maritime Countries Policymakers and scholars in the West talk about Southeast Asia as a coherent region, but it has always been divided. The region’s 700 million people speak hundreds of languages and follow different religions, and its 11 countries vary in political system, size, geography, and level of economic development. Throughout […]

La Chine a officialisé le premier service régulier de transport de conteneurs sur la Route maritime du Nord, reliant la Chine à l’Europe occidentale en seulement 18 jours. La société Haijie Shipping amorcera la nouvelle liaison avec un voyage inaugural à la fin du mois de septembre, déjà totalement réservé, en utilisant le porte-conteneurs Istanbul Bridge d’une capacité de 4890 […]