South Asia

By Farrah Hassen | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – A year has now passed since the tumultuous U.S. withdrawal from decades of war and occupation in Afghanistan. With the Taliban functionally in charge, the country faces a deteriorating humanitarian crisis and economic collapse. But instead of taking action to promote stability and reinvigorate […]

Climate Crisis

Pakistan: Climate Emergency-Driven, biblical Floods affect 33 million People Leave Millions Homeless

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Heavy flooding in southern Pakistan has destroyed or damaged 670,000 homes, according to Reliefweb. During an ordinary monsoon season in Pakistan beginning in June and ending in September, there would be four waves of precipitation. There have been eight such waves since June. Households in that country have an average […]

Afghanistan

Is Afghanistan Balkanizing under the Taliban Rule? On the one-year anniversary of their seizure of power, the Taliban now face a wholly different threat.

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Atal Ahmadzai ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – In the year since the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan has endured rapid and agonizing setbacks. Two decades of socio-economic and political gains have vanished under the dystopian rule of the Taliban. Furthermore, while peace is far from being realized, political violence, including the Taliban’s extrajudicial executions, […]

Afghanistan

The Taliban shifts Tactics in its Determination to Control and oppress Women

The Conversation

By Brian McQuinn, University of Regina; Cody Buntain, University of Maryland; and Laura Courchesne, University of Oxford | – (The Conversation) – Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan a year ago, it has barred girls from school, required women to wear burqas in public and banned women from travelling without a male chaperone. The Taliban […]

Afghanistan

Pact Act is Vindication for Vets after US Denied for Years that Burn Pits in Afghanistan and Iraq made them Ill

The Conversation

By Jason A. Higgins, Virginia Tech | – During a 13-month stint in Iraq that began in 2006, Heath Robinson served as a medic with the Ohio National Guard. Like thousands of others soldiers stationed there, he was routinely exposed to toxic smoke emanating from what are known as burn pits. Located near military bases, […]

Afghanistan

The volunteers risking their lives to secretly educate Afghanistan’s girls

Open Democracy

By Deepa Parent | – ( OpenDemocracy.net) – In 2002, when Matiullah Wesa was a teenager, armed gunmen burned his school. It was this, he told openDemocracy, that led him to dedicate his life to ensuring other children in Afghanistan can get an education. Wesa is the co-founder and president of PenPath, an NGO that […]

Afghanistan

Taliban in Power – One Year On

Middle East Monitor

By Amina Khan | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – On 15 August 2021, the world looked on with trepidation as the situation in Afghanistan reached a critical juncture with the Afghan Taliban assuming power in the country. The takeover was swift, and relatively peaceful, with little resistance from the masses, followed by the […]

Afghanistan

Afghan Women are refusing to remain Silent One Year after the Taliban Takeover

The Conversation

By Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University and Mona Tajali, Agnes Scott College | – (The Conversation) – On Aug. 15, it will be a year since the Taliban’s forceful takeover of Afghanistan for a second time. In the past year, we have witnessed a rapid return to the religious conservative rule and violation of women’s rights […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Taliban’s Catastrophic Year of Rule

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (New York) – The Taliban have broken multiple pledges to respect human rights and women’s rights since taking over Afghanistan a year ago, Human Rights Watch said today. After capturing Kabul on August 15, 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed severe restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights, suppressed the media, and arbitrarily […]