South East Asia

Russia’s Economic Pivot to Asia in a Shifting Regional Environment

This Emerging Insights paper analyses Moscow’s ambitions for its ‘pivot to the East’, assesses its progress and evaluates the impact of the Indo-Pacific concept on Russian strategy.

Russia’s ‘turn to the East’ (povorot na vostok) has been underway for around a decade. Before 2014, the ‘Pivot’ was principally concerned with exploiting the rapid economic growth in Asia. But events in 2014 gave it a more explicit geopolitical rationale. As relations with the Euro-Atlantic community deteriorated following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in southeastern Ukraine, Moscow’s need to diversify its foreign relations became urgent. The Pivot was suddenly as much away from the West as it was towards the Asia-Pacific. The Russian leadership emphasised the importance of using the Pivot to both improve Russia’s geopolitical position and stimulate the development of Russia’s Far East (RFE) and other resource-rich regions, such as Siberia and the Arctic.

Guarded by ex-inmates, Kabul’s Pul-e-Charkhi Prison lies deserted

Afghanistan’s infamous Pul-e-Charkhi Prison, which once housed thousands of Islamic Emirate forces and Daesh fighters in its sprawling compound on the outskirts of Kabul, today stands virtually empty, except for the remnants of prisoners’ belongings and discarded documents.

On August 15, as the Islamic Emirate drove into Kabul following the fall of the previous government, the gates to the prison were flung open – ending in some cases years of incarceration for many detainees.

Accept new Afghan refugees: UN to Pakistan

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has urged Pakistan to accept a new influx of refugees from Afghanistan.

If sent back due to the lack of documentation, the new Afghan refugees could be at risk, warned the top UNHCR official.

Australia Signs Up To The Anglosphere – Analysis

Much is still uncertain about the new AUKUS ‘enhanced trilateral security partnership’. The deal for at least eight nuclear submarines to be built in Australia is described as a ‘first initiative’ but the partnership’s aims, and whether there will be a governing treaty, are not yet clear.

Afghanistan: Future Of Global Terrorism – Analysis

One of the clauses of the February 2020 agreement between the Taliban and the United States (U.S.) made it obligatory on the insurgents to prevent the soil of Afghanistan from being used by global terror groups like the al Qaeda against the U.S. and its allies. Just like the Trump administration, the Biden administration too reiterated that decimating al Qaeda was the primary objective of the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Votaries of the drawdown of troops, hence, argued that since al Qaeda has been weakened and the Taliban have promised to prevent the group from reviving, the U.S. troops can return home from the forever war. Ground level situation and recent developments in Afghanistan, however, underline that this logic is deeply flawed. Under the new Taliban government, global terrorism is all set to flourish, with a devastating impact on the region and beyond.

Massoud, la complexité d’un personnage dans un pays «patchwork»

Assassiné par Al-Qaïda deux jours avant les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, le commandant Massoud avait alerté les Occidentaux des dangers du terrorisme islamiste, sans être écouté. Il jouit d’une bonne image chez nous. Pourtant, dans un pays terriblement rétrograde et en guerre, la plupart des Afghans gardent un souvenir mitigé de lui.

On peut et on doit parler avec les Talibans

Diplomate, Jean-Yves Berthault a été en poste à l’ambassade de France à Kaboul entre 1979 et 1981. Conseiller politique de la mission spéciale de l’ONU en Afghanistan en 1997, il a dirigé la mission diplomatique française à Kaboul de 1998 à 2001. Il est l’auteur de Déjeuners avec les Talibans, Révélations d’un diplomate.

Ankara calls on EU to help Afghanistan’s neighbors

Turkey’s president told German President Steinmeier that the EU member states should provide swift assistance to Afghanistan’s neighbors to cope with irregular migration.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed a call to the European Union to help Afghanistan’s neighbors cope with the Afghan refugee influx, warning against reliving the 2015 Syrian refugee wave.

China’s Jiangxi Copper to develop Mes Aynak when situation allows

Members of the Islamic Emirate were seen on Monday touring the Mes Aynak copper mine, which two Chinese companies had been developing.

China’s Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd said that it and the Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC) were monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and would push forward with the development of the Mes Aynak copper mine when they could.