Asia

Mark Leonard | ( Project Syndicate ) | – – In the 1990s, after genocides in Rwanda and the Balkans, Western countries developed a doctrine of so-called humanitarian intervention. “The Responsibility to Protect” (colloquially known as “R2P”) held countries accountable for their people’s welfare and compelled the international community to intervene when governments failed to […]

Afghanistan

‘Not Sharia’: Female Afghan Rap Star campaigns against Child Marriage

contributors

Jon Snow | (Channel 4 News Video Report) | – – “Sonita Alizadeh was just 10-years-old the first time her parents tried to sell her as a child bride. She turned to music and began recording raps protesting against child marriage.” Channel 4 News: “Sonita Alizadeh: the Afghan protesting through rap”

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Washington’s Twenty-First-Century Opium Wars

contributors

By Alfred McCoy | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – In October 2001, the U.S. launched its invasion of Afghanistan largely through proxy Afghan fighters with the help of Special Operations forces, American air power, and CIA dollars. The results were swift and stunning. The Taliban was whipped, a new government headed by Hamid Karzai […]

Afghanistan

As ISIL goes Global, Will the ‘War on Terror’ extend for Decades?

contributors

By Paul Rogers | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | – – The war against ISIL has seen 18 months of of airstrikes by United States-led coalition forces in both Iraq and Syria. An even more concentrated period is now under way, with signs of greater use of special forces by western militaries and pledges of ground troops […]

Banking

The Chinese are Coming: First ‘New Silk Road’ Train reaches Iran’s Capital

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In a sign of China’s increasingly powerful role in Central Asia and the Middle East, on Tuesday a Chinese train arrived in Tehran after a 14-day journey. The freight train just used existing rail links to go from China to Kazakhstan, then to Uzbekistan, then Turkmenistan, […]

Afghanistan

Iran Dragooning Thousands of Undocumented Afghans as Cannon Fodder in Syria

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has recruited thousands of undocumented Afghans living there to fight in Syria since at least November 2013, Human Rights Watch said today, and a few have reported that Iranian authorities coerced them. Iran has urged the Afghans to defend Shia sacred […]

Afghanistan

A Teacher in Afghanistan: Is the Future Democracy or Muslim Extremism?

contributors

By Jeffrey E. Stern | (Informed Comment) | – – A few months ago, in downtown Kabul, a small man stood on top of a car with a megaphone in a city liberated by American troops, and faced down his government. His quarrel was with President Ashraf Ghani. Tensions rose, a guard fired on the […]

China

Dragon & Phoenix: Khamenei Lauds New Sino-Iranian ‘Strategic Partnership’

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iran’s clerical leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke Saturday on the occasion of the state visit to Iran of Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said, “The government and people of Iran have always looked and are still looking for expanding relations with independent and trustworthy countries like […]

Afghanistan

6 US Troops killed by Taliban Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan

Juan Cole

Curated by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – BBC Monitoring translates from Pushtu a report from the ‘Afghan Islamic Press’ from Kabul on 21 Dec., which says that “A suicide attack has been carried out on the Afghan and foreign forces in Bagram District of Parwan Province, in which . . . foreign […]