By Max Boot, CFR Expert

August 16, 2022 3:56 pm (EST), Council on Foreign Relations

A year after the U.S. withdrawal, half of Afghanistan’s population faces a food emergency, and the Taliban regime acts with cruelty and indifference.

One year after the United States ended its longest war, there remains considerable disagreement over whether the war in Afghanistan was winnable or worth fighting. Congress has chartered a bipartisan commission to investigate the war and draw lessons for the future. But however one views the conflict, few would dispute that the exit from Afghanistan at the end of August 2021 was a chaotic mess—or that the United States has limited options for dealing with the Taliban regime.

Continue reading The U.S. holds limited influence in the Taliban’s Afghanistan →

Amnesty International’s recent attack on Ukraine raises yet again the issue of how the size, governance, and influence of the largest human rights organizations may damage the cause of human rights.

Blog Post by Elliott Abrams, Council on Foreign Relations

August 16, 2022 10:55 am (EST)

The cause of human rights is now at risk from the largest organizations dedicated to its protection.

Earlier this summer I wrote, here at the CFR web site, an article entitled “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?” and a blog entry of the same title. There I argued that “the issues of oversight, governance, and bias at the two largest NGOs, which dominate the field globally, cannot be overlooked.” Those two organizations are Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. As I wrote,

In 2021, Human Rights Watch had $256 million in assets and revenue of $130 million. It employs more than 500 staff members in 105 locations globally and has an annual budget of $97 million. Amnesty International is even larger, raising $436 million in 2020 and spending $376 million.

Continue reading Amnesty International’s Attack on Ukraine →

CFR Daily Brief 

Daily News Brief August 18, 2022

Top of the Agenda

Turkish, Ukrainian Leaders Hold First Face-to-Face Meeting Since Start of War

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is meeting (AFP) with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. They are expected to discuss diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, as well as a deal that Turkey and the United Nations brokered to resume grain exports from the country. Continue reading Council on Foreign Relations: Daily News Brief Aug. 18, 2022 →

afritechnews – by Angeline Mbogo

July 7, 2020

The fact that several African countries have been under the influence of the French for about 75 years now is stunning. Unable to let its colonies go, France continues to exploit African countries with unfair obligations, one of which has raised a raging debate over the years.

Dubbed the colonial tax, the infamous obligation on CFA Franc Zone members requires them to “keep 50 percent of their foreign exchange reserves in an operations account held at the French Treasury.”

Continue reading What is the French Colonial Tax? →

US Department of Staate

REMARKS

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

UN HEADQUARTERS

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

AUGUST 1, 2022Play Video

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good afternoon.  Secretary General Guterres, President Zlauvinen – thank you – Director General Grossi:  Thank you all for your longstanding leadership on nonproliferation.

I noted that Prime Minister Kishida of Japan is here as well this morning, which sends a very powerful message.  Earlier this year, he reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to nonproliferation in a joint statement with President Biden.

And a very special thanks to the foreign ministers, the deputy foreign ministers, the teams who have traveled to New York for these meetings and to get us off to a good start.

It’s great to be with you all here in person today, especially – especially – given the critical role the NPT has played in upholding the global nonproliferation regime.

More than five decades ago, at the height of the Cold War, representatives of 18 nations drafted the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

In the years that followed, nearly every country on Earth has joined the NPT.

Continue reading US State Secretary Antony J. Blinken’s Remarks to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference →

A year after US withdrawal from Afghanistan, some frustration at lack of lessons learned

Voice of America – 12-8-2022
–
US State and Defense Departments are conducting ongoing internal after-action reports on the withdrawal, but timeline of release remains unclear

The Indonesian Chinese still grappling with discrimination

South China Morning Post – 26-10-2018

Indonesian Chinese make up just three per cent of the country’s population, but they have played a prominent role in its history. A driving force behind Indonesia’s economic growth, they have also been the target of violent riots and xenophobic sentiment, with many leaving the country where their ancestors have lived for generations. Although they are allowed to express their ethnicity and culture openly again, a resurgence of nationalist sentiments have brought their place in Indonesian society back into question.

Between two superpowers: Indonesia’s position in the US-China rivalry

South China Morning Post – 25-7-2022

Indonesia is the largest developing economy in Southeast Asia, with a gross domestic product of over US$1 trillion. The country’s size and location have made it Indonesia an attractive strategic partner for China and the United States to influence the Asean region. Indonesia has attempted to remain neutral in the China-U.S rivalry, but if tensions between the two continue to rise, will Indonesia be forced to take sides or adopt a foreign policy that doesn’t align with either superpower?

Published: August 2, 2022 2.16pm BST The Conversation

Authors

1. Haroro J. IngramSenior Research Fellow at the Program on Extremism, George Washington University
2. Andrew MinesResearch Fellow at the Program on Extremism, George Washington University
3. Daniel MiltonDirector of Research, United States Military Academy West Point

Disclosure statement

The views expressed by Dr. Milton are his own and not of the U.S. Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or any other agency of the U.S. Government

Andrew Mines and Haroro J. Ingram do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Partners

View all partners

We believe in the free flow of information

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence.

Ayman al-Zawahri, leader of al-Qaida and a plotter of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has been killed in a drone strike in the Afghan city of Kabul, according to the U.S. government.

Al-Zawahri was the the successor to Osama bin Laden and his death marked “one more measure of closure” to the families of those killed in the 2001 atrocities, U.S. President Joe Biden said during televised remarks on Aug. 1, 2022.

The operation came almost a year after American troops exited Afghanistan after decades of fighting there. The Conversation asked Daniel Milton, a terrorism expert at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and Haroro J. Ingram and Andrew Mines, research fellows at the George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, to explain the significance of the strike on al-Zawahri and what it says about U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Continue reading Who was Ayman al-Zawahri? Where does his death leave al-Qaida and what does it say about US counterterrorism? →

LÊ QUANG 31/07/2022 06:33 GMT+7

TTCT – Khi người tiêu dùng rên xiết bởi đồng tiền mất giá, lãi bán hàng không đủ mua xăng dầu, hay mùa đông tới châu Âu có lẽ phải hạ lò sưởi xuống 18 độ C – thì chiến sự ở Ukraine là lời giải thích quá vội vã và quá dễ dãi. Về lâu dài, biến đổi khí hậu mới là nguyên nhân chính.

Nhiều nước châu Âu đang trải qua giai đoạn nắng nóng kỷ lục. Ảnh: Reuters

Các nghiên cứu trước đây đã chỉ ra mối liên hệ giữa thời tiết khắc nghiệt và khủng hoảng kinh tế, nhưng chỉ tập trung vào các nước đang phát triển, tình cờ cũng là những quốc gia bị lũ lụt, bão và hạn hán thường xuyên và nghiêm trọng hơn nhiều so với phương Tây. Nói cách khác, người ta đã cố tình lờ đi một điểm yếu của phương Tây, vốn vẫn luôn bị ảnh hưởng bởi biến đổi khí hậu, nay chỉ lộ rõ hơn vì chiến sự Ukraine.

Continue reading Khủng hoảng khí hậu: Chuyện tiền cả đấy! →

Jul 25, 2022 RICHARD HAASS Project Syndicate

Even before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine and set off a global scramble for fossil fuels, the battle against climate change was being lost. With national leaders and international diplomacy proving ineffective, is there any hope of saving ourselves?

NEW YORK – It is often said that no one wins a war, just that some lose less than others. Russia’s war against Ukraine promises to be no exception. One clear loser is already evident: the planet.

Continue reading As the World Burns →

foreignpolicy – This week, Uzbekistan has hosted two major summits with consequences for South Asia. The first was an international conference on Afghanistan held on Monday and Tuesday. And now, the foreign ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)—a multilateral group that aims to promote stability across Eurasia—have gathered in Tashkent, the capital, for a meeting on Thursday and Friday focused on regional peace and security and global inflation.

Continue reading Why Central Asia matters for South Asia →

July 26, 2022 3:41 PM VOA

Congolese protesters scale the perimeter wall of the compound of United Nations peacekeeping force’s warehouse in Goma, in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, July 26, 2022.”/>

The United Nations said that three of its peacekeepers were killed in ongoing anti-U.N. protests that turned violent in eastern Congo on Tuesday, while several civilians were also killed in the violence.

“At the MONUSCO Butembo base today, violent attackers snatched weapons from Congolese police and fired upon our uniformed personnel,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

MONUSCO is the acronym for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Protesters in Butembo, in the eastern province of North Kivu, accuse the U.N. of having failed to protect them from an escalation of violence from armed groups.

Continue reading UN Peacekeepers, Congolese Civilians Killed in Violent Protests →

Daily News BriefJuly 25, 2022

Top of the Agenda EU Approves Vaccine for Monkeypox in Wake of WHO Emergency DeclarationThe European Union (EU) followed Canada and the United States in approving Bavarian Nordic’s smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox (Reuters), the Danish drugmaker said. The step comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern and urged countries to step up their disease surveillance and response efforts. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus overruled an inconclusive WHO panel of advisors to make the declaration, saying “too little” is understood (NYT) about the current outbreak. More than sixteen thousand monkeypox cases have been reported in seventy-five countries since early May. Vaccines have been made available in some countries, though their global supply is relatively small (Vox).

Continue reading Council on Foreign Relations – Daily News Brief July 25, 2022 →

The quadrilateral grouping was popularly dubbed as the “West Asian Quad” until last year, has now graduated to become “I2U2″. The signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE, the ongoing talks of an FTA between India and Israel, coupled with the already existing FTA between the UAE and Israel, can help this grouping triangulate the economic partnership.

Written by Guest

Updated: July 22, 2022 3:47:03 pm Financialexpress.com

Under the framework of four nation grouping I2U2, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had announced its decision to invest USD 2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India. (File image)

By Harsh Kumar Upadhayay

The signing of the Abraham Accords and the subsequent normalisation of formal diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, followed by Israel and Bahrain, have reconfigured the political alignments of West Asia. In a world which is passing through uncertain times, characterized by power rivalries, armed conflicts, the looming fear of food crisis coupled with pessimistic market sentiments in a post-pandemic era, the Abraham Accords have not only created opportunities for bilateral engagements between the countries of West Asia but also have led to the creation of a Quadrilateral cooperative framework between India, Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

Continue reading The Abraham Accords and the Genesis of I2U2 →