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  • 8 Jan 2025
    • Afghanistan
    • Central Asia
    • Sustainability

    Water tensions under the Taliban

    Ali Mahaqi
    A new type of conflict is brewing in Central Asia.
  • 2 Dec 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • Central Asia

    Central Asia’s Taliban thaw

    Emil Avdaliani
    A decision by Kazakhstan to remove the Taliban from a list of terrorism groups fits with a regional trend toward normalisation of relations.
  • 7 Nov 2024
    • Afghanistan

    The chance to reframe international engagement with Afghanistan

    George Varughese , Iain Payne
    The present approach isn’t working, but this is a critical moment to chart a different course.
  • 10 Oct 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • Sex and Gender

    The cruelty in banning Afghan women from poetry

    Isabelle Zhu-Maguire
    Another tool has been taken away by state-mandated isolation.
  • 19 Sep 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • Energy

    The Taliban’s gas pipedream

    Humayoon Babur
    The much-hyped TAPI gas line faces too many blockages to be realistic.
  • 14 May 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • Pakistan
    • Sex and Gender

    Targeting girls education: Pakistan’s tribal areas suffer under Taliban influence 

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    Schools are the best weapon against extremism, that’s why the militants fear them.
  • 19 Apr 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • Sex and Gender

    Afghan women: The silent victims of Taliban brutality

    Sanchita Bhattacharya
    The Taliban is on a relentless mission to erase women from the political, economic, and societal discourse of Afghanistan.
  • 5 Apr 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Terrorism
    • Iran

    Pakistan: The dangerous reality of working on China’s megaprojects

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    A spate of deadly insurgent attacks on Chinese nationals sends a message about vulnerability.
  • 9 Oct 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Pakistan

    Pakistan intends to deport 1.7 million Afghans

    Adnan Aamir
    Will global condemnation and financial default force Islamabad’s hand on refugees fleeing the Taliban regime?
  • 27 Sep 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Human rights

    The Kalash are under threat from Pakistani Taliban

    Adnan Aamir
    A remote and persecuted religious minority is an easy target for militants set on gaining territory by any means.
  • 27 Sep 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Afghanistan

    Why humanitarian aid is vital to Afghanistan

    Matiullah Qazizada
    Despite significant hurdles, aid has continued to bolster the country’s employment, education and banking sectors.
  • 1 Sep 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Terrorism

    Can the Taliban contain Islamic State in Afghanistan?

    Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal
    Concerns are growing about spillover attacks further into the region.
  • 28 Jul 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Afghanistan War
    • Review

    Far from the limelight, forgotten Afghans continue the fight

    Melissa Jardine
    Accounts from Kabul hold lessons on how easily the world moves on, and some takeaways for Ukraine.
  • 20 Jul 2023
    • Afghanistan

    The world needs a new plan to deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan

    Shadi Khan Saif
    Saving lives is always complicated by politics.
  • 29 May 2023
    • Afghanistan

    Dealing with the Taliban to stop a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan

    Chayanika Saxena
    The basic needs of Afghans cannot be ignored.
  • 15 May 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia

    China to the rescue, with peace plans for Saudi, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan – up to a point

    Henry Storey
    These diplomatic gambits all carry a message. But conflict resolution isn’t necessarily the main one.
  • 21 Apr 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • India
    • Russia

    India still needs to work with Russia on Afghanistan

    Kabir Taneja
    Proximity changes the priorities for India in a conflict on the doorstep.
  • 20 Apr 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Sex and Gender

    Don’t reward the Taliban’s gender apartheid with recognition

    Farkhondeh Akbari , Jacqui True
    Returning diplomats to Afghanistan would send a terrible message to women and girls that the world has given up on them.
  • 13 Apr 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Diplomacy

    The urgent humanitarian need to get diplomats back to Afghanistan

    George Varughese , Daniel Madhani
    Aid workers are pressed enough to deliver much needed relief without a burden of also speaking for the global community.
  • 28 Mar 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • India
    • Pakistan

    India’s delicate dance with the Taliban

    Henry Storey
    With Afghanistan’s China pivot proving disappointing, the Islamist group is reprising its relationship with New Delhi.
  • 17 Mar 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Al Qaeda
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Russia
    • United States

    Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?

    Adam H. Dehsabzi
    Three of the world’s most influential powers have skin in the game when it comes to preventing another civil war.
  • 16 Feb 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Sex and Gender

    Is the tide turning on classroom bans for Afghan girls?

    Adam H. Dehsabzi
    In Afghanistan, there is increasing dissatisfaction with the suspension of female higher education, even within the Taliban.
  • 14 Oct 2022
    • Afghanistan
    • Pakistan
    • Terrorism
    • Human rights

    Enemies of education are back in Malala’s hometown? 

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    Fresh attacks by the Pakistani Taliban mark an alarming regression in the decade-long progress made in the region.
  • 2 Aug 2022
    • Afghanistan
    • Islamic State
    • Al Qaeda
    • Terrorism

    Killing the al-Qaeda chief leaves endless questions

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    The US has declared justice after more than 20 years hunting Ayman al-Zawahiri. But a battle with extremism will go on.
  • 27 Jun 2022
    • Pakistan
    • Afghanistan
    • India

    India-Pakistan: regional rivalries still rule in Afghanistan

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    The visit of an Indian delegation for talks with the Taliban in Kabul has raised eyebrows in neighbouring Pakistan.
  • 6 May 2022
    • Asylum seekers and refugees
    • Afghanistan War
    • Australian immigration
    • Afghanistan
    • Human rights

    Australia can stand up for the Afghan people, and the time is now

    Ahmad Shuja Jamal
    Canberra should signal to the world that we’re all better off in a community of nations where human dignity matters.
  • 2 May 2022
    • Afghanistan
    • Pakistan

    Drones do the talking in Pakistan’s anti-terror offensive

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    Islamabad is tired of waiting for Afghanistan’s Taliban to control the TTP who have found safe haven across the border.
  • 30 Mar 2022
    • Afghanistan
    • Central Asia
    • Russia

    Russia’s effort to escape diplomatic isolation

    Ed Wyatt
    Moscow may turn to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in Central Asia to prove its regional standing is intact.
  • 1 Feb 2022
    • United Nations
    • Afghanistan
    • Human rights

    Oslo talks expose the West’s Taliban dilemma 

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    Trusting the fundamentalists to deliver aid would mean ignoring a record of past promises to respect rights.
  • 13 Jan 2022
    • Afghanistan

    The geopolitics of aiding the Taliban’s Afghanistan

    Roshni Kapur , Chayanika Saxena
    Humanitarian assistance must be disentangled from concepts of political legitimacy in the country’s unfolding crisis.
  • 31 Dec 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan

    Taliban takeover – Best of The Interpreter 2021

    The Interpreter
    The US withdrawal was telegraphed months beforehand, but the speed of the Taliban advance still came as a shock.
  • 29 Nov 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan

    The Doha accord and Taliban legitimacy

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    Afghanistan’s new government has a full deck of cards to play in the security concerns of regional neighbours. 
  • 28 Sep 2021
    • Afghanistan
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen

    Yemen: the search for leverage after Afghanistan

    Philip Eliason
    Islamists see advantage in a perceived reduction of America’s commitment to friends. Yemen could be the start.
  • 9 Sep 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia

    An Afghan test leaves Australia’s principles wanting

    Edmond Roy
    A cricket match offered a field to engage on rights issues but instead the government further isolated the Taliban.
  • 7 Sep 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Terrorism
    • Afghanistan

    The evolving Taliban-ISK rivalry

    Amira Jadoon , Andrew Mines , Abdul Sayed
    With the US withdrawal, the Taliban must decide if cooperating with an old enemy could risk losing to a new one.
  • 6 Sep 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • Türkiye

    Turbulence, the Taliban, and Turkey’s role in Afghanistan’s future

    Iain MacGillivray
    A role supporting operations at Kabul airport looks to offer Recep Tayyip Erdoğan more risks than rewards.
  • 26 Aug 2021
    • Pacific Islands
    • Afghanistan
    • Afghanistan War
    • India
    • Australia
    • Trade

    Economic diplomacy: After Kabul, Australia looks to India

    Greg Earl
    Australia has a lower war-to-aid ratio, but the US is more transparent about its failure against the Taliban.
  • 26 Aug 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia
    • International law

    What’s in a name? The Taliban and recognition under international law

    Donald R Rothwell
    Formal recognition as a legitimate government may be a bargaining chip to press the Taliban to respect human rights.
  • 25 Aug 2021
    • Asia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • China

    Afghanistan holds lessons for American power in Asia

    Sam Roggeveen
    The US will one day ask the same question about its presence in Asia that it did of Afghanistan: is it still worth it?
  • 24 Aug 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • India

    India fears a poison harvest from Afghanistan

    Aarti Betigeri
    The Taliban takeover forces a regional realignment and has left New Delhi wondering about its past investment.
  • 23 Aug 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan

    The world must evacuate women police in Afghanistan

    Melissa Jardine
    The international community trained local women to put their lives on the line but has now abandoned them to danger.
  • 19 Aug 2021
    • United States
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan

    Decoding intelligence on Afghanistan

    Ben Scott
    An official inquiry should answer much wider questions about the US mission than only those of the final few weeks.
  • 18 Aug 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • India
    • Pakistan

    Afghanistan’s collapse shifts strategic dynamics in South Asia

    Stuti Bhatnagar
    If the Taliban’s return is seen a plus for Pakistan, India appears to be the loser.
  • 17 Aug 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • Migration
    • Human rights
    • Sex and Gender

    What to do after the Taliban take-over

    Susanne Schmeidl
    The foreign troops might be gone but Afghanistan is still our responsibility.
  • 16 Aug 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan

    Kabul has fallen and so have we

    Edmond Roy
    Defeat in Afghanistan is not only a military one, but of the commitment professed by the “international community”.
  • 16 Aug 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan

    Afghanistan: the right time to leave

    Rodger Shanahan
    There was no “low cost” solution for the United States other than endless conflict.
  • 10 Aug 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • Russia

    Afghanistan: Russia faces its own risks and uncertainty

    Ian Hill
    Regional instability, refugee flows, extremism, and zero appetite for warfare temper Russia’s stance on Afghanistan.
  • 5 Aug 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • Pakistan

    Is Pakistan fuelling a Taliban takeover?

    Hussain Nadim
    The Afghan government points a finger at Pakistan in a tactic to divert attention from its own colossal failures.
  • 30 Jul 2021
    • Afghanistan
    • China

    China’s Afghan conundrum

    Henry Storey
    Afghanistan is not reputed to be the “graveyard of empires” without reason.
  • 26 Jul 2021
    • Afghanistan
    • India
    • Pakistan

    Another proxy war in Afghanistan?

    Aarti Betigeri
    India and Pakistan both have deep ties to Afghanistan and as US troops withdraw, a fresh conflict may fill the void.
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