Ekaterina Zolotova, Geopolitical Futures
In our 2019 Annual Forecast, we said we expected Uzbekistan to challenge Kazakhstan as the dominant power in Central Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed any progress toward that end, but now that the world seems to be getting past the worst of it, and especially now that Afghanistan is destabilizing again as the U.S. withdraws, the environment seems ripe for Uzbekistan to make a move.
Neil Quilliam, Foreign Policy
Among Arab countries, the race is on to repair ties with the Assad regime.
Max Hastings, Times of London
Unless Biden is prepared to keep American boots in the sand, Iran will sweep into the Middle East's power vacuum
Shadi Hamid, The Atlantic
Liban Obsiye & Liban Hussein, AA
Afghanistan shows that billions of dollars and years of international support aren't enough. Somalia's insecurity problem needs a Somali solution.
Howard French, WPR
The extraordinary demographic change currently sweeping Africa is one of the most important challenges facing humankind over the remainder of this century. United Nations projectionspredict that from its present population of nearly 1.4 billion people, the continent's population will approach 4.5...
Mark Gongloff, Bloomberg
He set the deadline, and he should be able to bend it to finish evacuations.
Jon Boone, Financial Times
It was fear of history repeating itself that prompted Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan's former president, to flee the country as the Taliban entered Kabul.
Gil Troy, Jerusalem Post
Last week, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited Taibe, an Israeli-Arab city. Urging his fellow citizens to get vaccinated, Bennett declared: "Echpat li me'habriyut shelachem" (I care about your health).
Peter Suciu, 1945
A dangerous game of brinksmanship continues in the Pacific as China has touted its amphibious capabilities and highlighted the abilities of its missile technology, while Taiwan has countered with its own claims of having superior anti-missile technology.
Stuart Gottlieb, The Hill
In an almost incomprehensible turn of events, the Taliban flag will once again be flying over Kabul, Afghanistan, just in time for the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, the day Taliban guests from al-Qaeda committed the deadliest terrorist attack in world history.
Tim Brinkhof, Big Think
Russian movies continue to be used as a mouthpiece for the country's political leadership.
Srdjan Uljevic, EurasiaNet
The great powers' shifting interests in Afghanistan can be dizzying to behold. Washington says its retreat will allow it to counter an assertive China in Asia. Beijing, for its part, is using the chaotic withdrawal to poke holes in America's promises to its Asian allies as it seeks regional supremacy.
A. Nader & B. Weinthal, RCW
The European Union has made its position on Iran abundantly clear. The attendance of senior EU official Enrique Mora at the inauguration of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi demonstrated that Brussels will pursue a policy of engagement with and concessions to the Islamic Republic rather than siding with the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom.
Roya Hakakian, New York Review of Books
When the FBI told me I was a target, I was shocked but not surprised. Even in US suburbs, the regime's critics are not safe from its assassins.
