Morgane Le Cam, Worldcrunch
Iyad Ag Ghali did not wait for the fall of Kabul to celebrate the Taliban victory in Afghanistan. The jihadist leader of the West African branch of al-Qaeda (Group To Support Islam and Muslims, or GSIM) broke his long silence on Aug. 10, not having spoken since November 2019. In an audio message, he paid tribute to the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, for the withdrawal of the invading U.S. forces and their...
Ivan Eland, RealClearWorld
The rapid collapse of Afghanistan has led to predictable finger-pointing about who is to blame for "losing Afghanistan." Both President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, laudably wanted to end the quagmire. Both made blunders.
Arash Azizi, Newlines
Before the hard-liner Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi introduced his cabinet picks on Aug. 11, many had hoped that he would make a gesture of inclusion toward the centrist and reformist factions of the Islamic Republic, which are now being pushed out of all levers of power. Since his election in June and his inauguration on Aug. 3, Raisi had made all the right noises about forming a cabinet that would be "beyond factions," nonpartisan and focused on bringing Iran out of the dire straits it finds itself in. Читать дальше...
David Harsanyi, National Review
He may have wanted to score a quick political win, but the losses suffered on the ground are pointing another way.
Jonathan Guyer, The American Prospect
The White House only heard about an urgent warning of Afghanistan's collapse after reading news reports.
A. Elhamy et al, Reuters
ISIS-K is a sworn enemy of the Taliban. But U.S. intelligence officials believe the movement used the instability that led to the collapse of Afghanistan's Western-backed government this month to strengthen its position and step up recruitment of disenfranchised Taliban members.
L. Seligman, A. Ward & A. Desiderio, Politico
U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city's airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.
Amy Kazmin et al, FT
Historic victims of persecution treat militants' promise of tolerance with caution
Kishore Mahbubani, Foreign Policy
Why does the United States, arguably the world's most successful society, expend so much blood and treasure on foreign ventures—from Cambodia and Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq—and fail so spectacularly? Americans search for explanations in events and personalities. Actually, there may be deeply structural reasons for these spectacular failures. The reasons can be captured in three Cs: control, culture, and compromise.
Willy Wo-Lap Lam, Jamestown
The Chinese President Xi Jinping has masterminded a major policy shift for the world's second largest economy by underscoring the imperative of "common prosperity" (共同富裕, Gongtong fuyu). At a recent meeting of the Central Finance and Economic Affairs Commission (CFEC), which he leads, Xi said that a relatively equal income distribution across disparate sectors of the populace and geographical areas was "an essential requirement of socialism and a key feature of... Читать дальше...
Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs
Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, U.S. President Joe Biden and his top advisers have advanced four main claims to justify the decision to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan and to deflect criticism of the disastrous outcome. They have said that the mission in Afghanistan was unsustainable without a dramatic escalation of U.S. forces. They have argued that they had no choice but to honor an agreement that the administration of President Donald Trump... Читать дальше...
CSIS
