In the run-up to the 2015 presidential elections, All Progressives Congress (APC) party candidate Muhammadu Buhari’s unique selling point was his background as a former general and former military head of state. Many believed he had what it takes to combat the war on terror. As it happened, he went on to win that election, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck […]

There is an overwhelming boisterous ignorance that characterises Australia’s foreign policy approach to China. When Beijing was boxed and derided as emerging, weak and well-behaved, everyone supposedly got on. Washington remained the region’s patriarch and Australia its policing deputy. Everyone could get on plundering resources and making some ruddy cash along the way. Then, assumptions started being challenged: the cheeky […]

Russia-China Axis intensification in 2022 more significantly evident post-Ukraine with Russia and China ranged defiantly against virtually the entire world reminiscent of templates of Cold War 1.0 Grave security implications ensue for India consequently besides imposing on India the imperatives of reset of its foreign policy compass. India stares at geopolitical challenges wherein China, India’s implacable foe in 2022 is […]

How the International Community Turned Its Back Life under the Taliban is the worst women’s rights crisis on the planet. When the Taliban returned to power last August, they imposed immediate and brutal restrictions, the harshest of which were reserved for women. They quickly imposed a ban on girls’ secondary education, which remains in place despite domestic and international demands […]

How a Burst Real-Estate Bubble Threatens China’s Economy The Chinese real estate sector is teetering. The largest private Chinese developer has defaulted on its external bonds. Most developers are struggling to refinance their domestic bonds. Home prices have gone down for the last 11 months. New construction is down 45 percent. The most acute stress can be traced back to […]

One year after the transition of power in Afghanistan, the country faces a cascading humanitarian crisis. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expanded its medical programs in Afghanistan to meet the growing needs.

At first light Sunday morning, shivering soldiers at a Northern Alliance checkpoint outside the Taliban- controlled village of Jalreez say it is too dangerous to go any farther. This is the last pocket of Taliban forces near the capital city of Kabul and for days now it has been the scene of fierce on-again, off-again fighting. Now, say the soldiers […]

In Afghanistan, ISIS has been targeting minority groups in a wave of attacks in recent months. It’s undermining the Taliban’s promise of greater security. Many Afghans say their cities and villages feel safer under the Taliban. Now in power, the assaults that the Taliban once waged are no more. But a wave of targeted attacks by ISIS is undermining that […]

Responding to a claim by the Afghan minister of defense of the US using Pakistan’s airspace for drone operations, Pakistan said late Sunday it was “highly regrettable”. According to a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Islamabad has noted with deep concern the allegation by Afghanistan’s Defense Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub regarding the use of Pakistan’s airspace in a US counter-terrorism […]

The special representative of Iran in Afghanistan has said that the new rulers of Afghanistan do not have enough forces at border posts and Iran should unilaterally establish border security. But the Ministry of National Defense says that they have deployed forces to 450 security posts that have advanced military equipment along the borders of Afghanistan with neighboring countries. Iran […]