South Asia

Arhama Siddiqa | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – It is no secret that despite international sanctions, Iran is known for leaving Western powers at a loss, sometimes by making what are considered to be outrageous statements, on other occasions with similarly outrageous actions. In July, the New York Times ran a story on […]

Corruption

Did Trump Throw Kurds under the Bus for Turkey because of his Istanbul Revenue Stream?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The New York Times reported, in the scoop of the decade, that Trump has $420 million in loans and other obligations coming due in the next four years, and that most of his core businesses hemorrhage money, so that he has no way to pay them back. In the past […]

Bangladesh

Climate Emergency is Drowning Bangladesh; is Dhaka Finally Dumping Coal?

China Dialogue

By Tom Baxter | – ( China Dialogue) – Bangladesh’s minister of power, energy and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, surprised energy watchers recently when he said the country is planning to “review” all but three of 29 planned coal plants. “We are keeping the three coal-fired power plants that are under construction. At present, we […]

Afghanistan

US punishes International Criminal Court for investigating potential war crimes in Afghanistan

The Conversation

By Susan M. Akram | The Trump administration has sought to weaken or abandon various international agencies since 2016. Now it’s taking aim at the International Criminal Court, a global tribunal that investigates and prosecutes war crimes, torture and genocide. Claiming the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan poses a […]

India

Pakistan’s ‘Brotherly’ Ties With Saudi Arabia Hit ‘Rock Bottom’

Frud Bezhan

By Frud Bezhan | – ( RFE/RL) – But the long-standing economic, political, and military ties between the South Asian state and the oil-rich Middle East kingdom have been based less on common values and more on transactions, experts say. Riyadh has provided huge financial support in the form of cheap oil and loans to […]

Afghanistan

Was there Really a Russian Bounty on US Troops in Afghanistan? A Story with Holes

Reese Erlich

(48Hills.org ) – On June 26, in a major front page story, The New York Times wrote that Russia paid a bounty to the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan last year. The story quickly unraveled. While the military is investigating the allegations, Mark Miley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says there’s […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s COVID-19 crisis has been fuelled by armed conflict

The Conversation

By Christiane Wilke and Mohd Khalid Naseemi | – The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing the inequities in access to health care around the globe. In Afghanistan, the spread of the virus has been ignited by decades of armed conflict and reconstruction efforts that have prioritized cutting public expenditures over strengthening the Afghan health-care system. Powerful […]

Afghanistan

What do Russians make of the charge Moscow offered Taliban Bounties on US Troops?

Nikola Mikovic

Russian officials deny the New York times claims that Moscow offered bounties to members of the Taliban movement for killing US soldiers, while the Kremlin-friendly analysts believe that the such “fake news” were fabricated in order to weaken the US President Donald Trump, as well as to serve as a pretext for more anti-Russia sanctions. […]

Afghanistan

Trump Likely did Throw US Troops in Afghanistan under the Bus, but Why would the Russians have Targeted Them?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Charlie Savage; Eric Schmitt and Michael Schwirtz at the New York Times broke the blockbuster story on Friday that GRU 29155, a violent unit of Russian military intelligence accused of poisoning a double agent in Britain in 2018, had offered militants and criminals a bounty if they killed coalition forces […]