The US Pacific Command’s recent name change will undermine the US-India relationship. The decision of the United States to restore the US Indo-Pacific Command to its former designation as the “US Pacific Command” may appear, at first glance, to be little more than bureaucratic housekeeping. Governments rename institutions all the time. Acronyms change. Organizational charts evolve. Yet in international politics, […]

In this interview with Amu TV’s Lotfullah Najafizada, Richard Lindsay, the UK’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, discusses the Taliban’s governance, women’s rights, terrorism, regional security, humanitarian aid and the prospects for international engagement. Here is the full transcript of the interview. Najafizada: Mr. Richard Lindsay, the UK Special Envoy for Afghanistan. Thank you for your time. Lindsay: Very nice to […]

Afghanistan’s dramatic collapse in opium production following the Taliban’s nationwide drug ban is fundamentally reshaping global heroin markets, reducing supplies of the drug while raising the risk that traffickers and users will increasingly turn to more dangerous synthetic opioids, according to a United Nations report released Friday. The World Drug Report 2026, published by the UN Office on Drugs and […]

Toplines The PRC may be aiming to alter the status quo in the West Pacific by expanding its regular law enforcement and research activity to the waters east of Taiwan. The PRC likely aims to erode Taiwanese sovereignty and establish itself as the sole legitimate caretaker of “China’s” maritime boundaries, including those around Taiwan and its outlying islands. PRC social […]

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Moscow has pursued increasingly close ties with the extremist Islamist organization. Russia is now the only country that formally recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Even neighboring countries such as China, Iran, India, and Pakistan have refused to do so. Earlier this year, Moscow signed a […]

Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan, said Moscow and the Taliban administration want Afghanistan’s frozen assets to be released. However, he said no breakthrough is expected soon because the United States and Europe are ignoring the issue. Speaking to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Kabulov said the current deadlock was the result of Western actions. Kabulov said the responsibility for […]

Five years ago, the 20-year American war in Afghanistan came to an inglorious end. In April 2021, the United States had begun its final withdrawal, with the goal of pulling out the 2,500 U.S. troops that remained in the country by September. Within weeks of the first U.S. departures, the Taliban had swept up scores of positions as Afghan government […]