Asia

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In May, 1997, the Taliban swept into Mazar-i Sharif, the capital of the northern Balkh Province. Horrible events ensued, which I’ll tell you about. Right now, it is important to say that Al Jazeera reports that Mazar fell to the Taliban again on August 14, 2021, as the Afghanistan National […]

Afghanistan

Why a Taliban Victory in Afghanistan was all along a Real Possibility despite the Trillions the U.S. Poured In

The Conversation

By Natasha Lindstaedt | – ( The Conversation) – In less than a week, the Taliban has captured nearly a dozen key cities in Afghanistan. With the departure of US forces, it is poised to take over the country from the embattled Afghan government. Over the past 20 years, the US has poured trillions of […]

Afghanistan

To end war in Afghanistan, Taliban demand Afghan president’s removal

The Conversation

By Madhav Joshi and David Cortright | – The Taliban continue to gain territory in their bloody insurgency to seize control of Afghanistan. Recently, Taliban leaders said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s removal is a condition for ending the conflict. If a mutually acceptable candidate were named to replace Ghani, a Taliban spokesman told The Associated […]

Afghanistan

The Great Washington Ponzi Scheme in Afghanistan comes Crashing Down

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States lost the Afghanistan War a long time ago, as is quickly becoming apparent as the Taliban take city after city. After 2002, it was never clear what the US war aim was. You can’t win a war if you don’t have a clear objective. The war is […]

Afghanistan

Taliban seize Herat and assault nearby dam that provides water and power to hundreds of thousands of Afghans

The Conversation

By Elizabeth B. Hessami and Asef Ghafoory | – ( The Conversation) – The Taliban have taken over the Afghan city of Herat, capping three weeks of furious fighting in which both men and women took up arms to defend their city while many residents fled gunfights and rocket attacks. The fall of Herat follows […]

Afghanistan

Taliban Gains pose risk to fragile Legal Protections gained by Afghan Women: HRW

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch) – (New York) – The Afghan government’s failure to provide accountability for violence against women and girls has undermined progress to protect women’s rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Gains by Taliban forces as the United States completes its troop withdrawal leaves the current Afghan state, and […]

China

On China, Biden is continuing Trump’s Zero-Sum Vision of the World when our Crises demand a Win-Win Approach

Martin Powers

Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – Regarding China, Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Team has embraced the zero-sum rhetoric of the Trump administration. That approach could bifurcate the globe politically and technologically along racial lines, but instead of race, the project has been marketed as a contest of values. Zero-sum rhetoric didn’t begin with Trump. […]

Japan

On Anniversary of U.S. Nuking of Hiroshima, can we Learn from the Forests?

H. Patricia Hynes

(Special to Informed Comment) – On August 6 and 9 throughout the world, people will commemorate the hundreds of thousands of Japanese people who died—crushed, vaporized, burned beyond recognition, poisoned by radiation—from the atomic bombs the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The bombs’ hideous intent and impact constituted a crime […]

China

What electric vehicle manufacturers can learn from China – their biggest market

The Conversation

By Youlin Huang, David Tyfield, Didier Soopramanien, and Lixian Qian | – Despite the pandemic, global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) increased by 43% in 2020. Total EV sales in China were 1.3 million, an increase of 8% compared to 2019, and 41% of all EVs sold worldwide. Though Europe sold more than China for […]