Thabat, an al-Qaeda-affiliated media outfit, has released a series of infographics in recent weeks that are intended to highlight the jihadists’ worldwide operations. The images include purported summary statistics for the entire month of March, figures for the week from Mar. 26 to Apr. 2, a brief timeline of the jihad in Afghanistan, as well as a history of the jihad in Somalia.
At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation starting September 4, Beijing will once again seek to deepen its engagement with countries in the Global South. Chinese leader Xi Jinping was, to his credit, prescient in recognizing the frustrations and aspirations within the developing world and has capitalized on those sentiments to build China’s global political and economic influence. The three-day event, which the Chinese foreign ministry called “the largest diplomatic event China has hosted in recent years,” is only one of a series of programs, initiatives, and gatherings that Beijing has launched to tighten its bonds of diplomacy, business, and trade with countries throughout the Global South.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending in August 2021, created favorable conditions for Russia to reassert itself as a regional hegemon in broader Central Asia. Historically, as great powers retrench from a territory, the resulting void can be filled either by rival powers or by friendly successor states responsive to the retrenching power’s agenda. While the United States has lacked reliable successors to take its place in the region, Russia has asserted itself in a number of ways to boost its own power and influence. Moscow has not only cultivated bilateral ties with each of the five Central Asian states, but it has also instrumentalized regional security organizations to advance its interests. However, the full-scale assault against Ukraine beginning in 2022 has undermined Russia’s initiatives in Central Asia and its aspirations for regional hegemony. The Central Asian countries fear Moscow’s apparent neo-imperial ambitions and prefer to develop multi-vectored foreign relations. In this situation, China is poised to supplant Russia as the dominant power and security provider in the region, which could create tensions within the so-called partnership without limits between Moscow and Beijing.
In April 2022, less than a year after it took power in Kabul, the Taliban announced it would prohibit the cultivation, production, trafficking, trade and consumption of all narcotics in Afghanistan. At the time, many observers were skeptical of both the group’s sincerity, due to the revenues it had long generated from the drugs industry, and its ability to enforce the ban.
Another 9/11 could originate from Afghanistan, which has been forgotten by the international community, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Monday.
“Afghanistan has almost been forgotten. There is no doubt about it and this was in fact highlighted during the Doha 3 session in June.
Si l’on combine la géographie politique et la géopolitique, il est facile de constater que le groupe de pays situés au nord de la mer d’Arabie présente un certain nombre de caractéristiques communes. Certaines parties de l’Iran moderne et de l’Afghanistan représentent le Khorasan historique, et la ceinture pachtoune s’étend de l’Afghanistan au Pakistan. Le Pakistan et l’Iran sont unis par le Baloutchistan (les deux pays ont des mouvements séparatistes baloutches activement soutenus de l’extérieur).
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, established in 1947. Initially a small military unit, it has grown into a powerful organization, often seen as more influential than the country’s government. Over the years, the military’s control over politics has allowed the ISI to operate almost like a separate state. Today, the ISI not only gathers intelligence, but also plays a key role in shaping Pakistan’s foreign policy.
The 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held in Astana, Kazakhstan, was an important gathering that brought together leaders from various countries to discuss regional cooperation and security issues, underscoring the SCO’s role in addressing these critical matters.
Levez la main si vous l’auriez dit il y a quelques années. Qui aurait imaginé qu’un jour, entre le 8 et le 19 juillet 2024 pour être précis, un petit contingent militaire chinois s’entraînerait à des manœuvres anti-terroristes avec ses collègues locaux dans les environs de Brest, à quelques kilomètres seulement de la frontière entre la Biélorussie et la Pologne, pays membre de l’OTAN ? Et juste au moment où l’OTAN célébrait son 75ème anniversaire à Washington, avec l’habituelle série de vagues promesses de bienvenue pour l’Ukraine de Zelensky, qui reçoit au contraire toutes les armes possibles tant qu’elle continue à se battre (aussi) en notre nom.
Il est utile de méditer comme le font les Russes aujourd’hui sur la capacité d’innovation dans les rapports de force des Chinois : face au bellicisme, au défi de l’hégémonie occidentale, ils répondent en matière de puissance «il est difficile de savoir qui est le plus fort mais nous nous sommes plus intelligents alors nous allons vaincre». Les Russes qui ont conscience d’avoir porté à bout de bras toute la volonté d’émancipation du prolétariat et des pays colonisés durant tout le vingtième siècle, ont d’autant plus de mérite à reconnaitre cette stratégie qu’ils se considèrent avec raison comme ayant subi et subissant une injustice historique et l’appréciation de leur rôle… Mais les USA, l’OTAN, les vassaux européens en les traitant comme ils l’ont fait, les ont forcés à un partenariat stratégique qui découvre l’art de la guerre des Chinois. Nous devrions en faire autant et perdre un peu de temps pour en gagner avec la considération de l’adversaire, du contexte géopolitique et donc le retour à une stratégie qui ne soit pas seulement la course à l’échalote de la conservation d’un portefeuille d’élus. Rien de plus utile que la compréhension de ce destin commun qui se joue et conditionne les luttes des classes et la bataille pour les souverainetés nationales.