The recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit occurred in the shadow of sudden and dramatic events in Afghanistan that resulted in the emergence of Afghan Taliban rule after 20 years. It can’t be said for certain whether any of the SCO member countries and western stake holders were prepared for such a scenario. This un-expected…
On August 15th the Taliban swept across the whole of Afghanistan and Kabul fell without even a bullet fired. The Europeans and the Americans in particular were in disbelief. This is the project that the American military, NATO and European armies had been building for the last 20 long years. It is the longest war…
1. Introduction 1.1 Humanity has been facing environmental tragedies since the dawn of civilization. Such tragedies were decreed by the Creator because of human misdeeds or else they were caused by anthropogenic activity. Nature punishes humans whenever they interfere with natural phenomena. Since the Industrial Revolution human outlook has been fast sliding down from morality…
Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on September 18 that he has initiated a dialogue with the Taliban for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan. The announcement was made a day after his meeting with the leaders of Afghanistan’s neighbours, including China, Russia, Iran and Tajikistan on the side-lines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization…
“In war, the moral is to the physical as ten is to one”. This quote from Napoleon Bonaparte could be an apt description of what happened to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in front of the ever-advancing Taliban! While the speed of ANDSF’s capitulation was a shock, the end results perhaps not…
Context The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its 20th anniversary conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on September 17. The conference took place in the backdrop of the collapse of Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan as the Taliban took over. This was accompanied by the complete withdrawal of US and coalition troops that has raised alarm bells…
The Afghan National Army (ANA) had disintegrated in the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal and subsequent civil war. The new ANA post-American occupation is a more recent phenomenon and has an interesting history. In the first few years after the U.S. arrival in late 2001, security was provided by militias of local warlords. The U.S. had no…
