South East Asia

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.

The Past

When terrorism first raised its ugly head in Kashmir Valley more than three decades ago, it was complemented with a craftily orchestrated campaign that was extraordinarily high in emotional content. Beguiled by promises that “azadi [freedom] was just around the corner,” the people of J&K heartily welcomed the armed Kashmiri youth [calling themselves ‘freedom fighters’] who had been trained and armed by Pakistan army’s intelligence wing Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] and would ‘liberate’ Kashmir through an ‘armed struggle’.

The message from Chinese officials has become increasingly clear: the United States and China should first stabilize their political relationship before taking on nuclear issues.

Introduction

During the first virtual summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2021, the two leaders discussed nuclear issues and, according to U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, agreed to “look to begin to carry forward discussion on strategic stability.”1 This outcome was hardly surprising; as both American and Chinese experts had pointed out, reducing the risk of nuclear weapons use was the countries’ most obvious common interest. Yet, previous U.S. efforts to kick-start a nuclear or strategic stability dialogue with China have been unsuccessful.

Authorities in northwestern Pakistan said Monday that a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a military compound, followed by several armed insurgents storming it, resulting in the death of at least three soldiers and injuries to 12 others.

The Pakistani military is distinguished as the only armed force in the world that embraces “Jihad” as its motto, making it a unique entity that governs a nation rather than being merely a part of a country’s defense system. Since its establishment in 1947, Pakistan has strategically employed proxy forces to not only destabilize the region but also to exert influence on a global scale. One of its initial uses of proxy forces involved sending Pashtun tribe members to engage Indian forces in Kashmir, sparking the first conflict between India and Pakistan. These Pashtun tribesmen were subsequently utilized as proxies in various operations.

Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership has decided to launch a new multi-faceted nationwide counterterrorism campaign amid the country’s deteriorating security situation.

A high-powered meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave the go ahead for operation “Azm-e-Istehkam,” or Resolve for Stability, to “combat the menaces of extremism and terrorism in a comprehensive and decisive manner,” said a statement issued by the prime minister’s office.

On 26 August 2021, shortly after the Taliban conquered Kabul, Abdur Rahman Logari detonated his suicide vest near the Abbey Gate in the city’s airport, killing 170 men, women and children who were trying to flee the country. Two days later, a US drone strike killed an entire Afghan family in the mistaken belief that the target was Logari. Joe Biden would later describe the Abbey Gate attack — Isis’s most successful operation in Afghanistan — as “the hardest of the hard days” of his presidency. Harder days, however, were soon to come.