One cannot but feel mildly amused at the theatrical spectacle of the US troop pullout from Afghanistan, its completion day now postponed for maximum PR impact to 9/11, 2021. Nearly two decades and a staggering US$2 trillion after this Forever War was launched by a now immensely indebted empire, the debacle can certainly be interpreted as a warped version of Mission Accomplished.
Read Here | Asia Times
The “extended troika” on the Afghan problem comprising the United States, Russia and China – and Pakistan – announced in Doha on Thursday a roadmap in consultation with President Ashraf Ghani’s government and the Taliban on the way forward in immediate terms for reaching a peace settlement.
Read Here | Asia Times
What does Russia want from Ukraine? This is one of the vital questions surrounding Russia’s growing buildup of military hardware and troops, both facing eastern Ukraine and from Crimea. No one seems to be asking Putin any questions, but rather are just demanding that he pull his troops back and relieve the military pressure. Nor is it clear if anyone is in a position to ask that question.
Read Here | Asia Times
When Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov landed this month in Pakistan, marking Moscow’s first high-level ministerial visit to Islamabad in nearly a decade, the diplomat’s presence was laden with geopolitical intrigue. While Lavrov’s overt mission was to court Pakistan’s support for Russia’s new bid to promote a political settlement in war-torn Afghanistan, his unspoken agenda focused on indications the US will delay its avowed withdrawal from the war-torn nation.
Read Here | Asia Times
In its bid to gain Asian hegemony, China views India as a major obstacle… Beijing’s ability to pressure its neighbour extends beyond the conventional battlefield and increasingly includes unconventional forms of warfare to achieve expansionist and coercive objectives.
Read Here | Foreign Affairs
After a couple of years in which Indian-Pakistan relations have taken a nosedive over a series of bloody border clashes, the two sides have agreed to strike another deal. Both will hold their fire and continue negotiations to end the long-simmering conflict between them. There is reason for optimism; even a fragile peace is better than continued conflict.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
While China’s many contested border areas may appear to have become more inflamed coincident with its rising global ambitions, the reality is that Beijing has long stoked and sustained borderland disputes as a tactic to win concessions on wider issues with its neighbours.
Read Here | Asia Times
Tensions persist among today’s great powers—above all the United States and China—and any number of flash points could trigger a conflict between them. These two countries are on a collision course fuelled by the dynamics of a power transition and their competition for status and prestige, and without a change in direction, war between them in the coming decades is not only possible but probable.
Read Here | Foreign Affairs
The U.S. military is already strapped for resources trying to police the Indo-Pacific, and this is peacetime. If the United States lost a sizable fraction of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and affiliated joint forces in a contest in the Taiwan Strait—even a triumphant one—its capacity to retain its superpower standing and preside over the liberal maritime order would be diminished. It could win locally but lose globally.
Read Here | The National Interest
A war begun to oust the Taliban is ending with a whimper almost two decades later, with those same Taliban poised for some sort of power-sharing agreement with Kabul. After decades of war and heartbreak and broken promises and shattered lives, so little seems to have changed in Afghanistan.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
