The kinetic phase of the Hybrid War on Syria seems to be drawing to a close, but the weaponization of chaos theory is still an ever-present threat that mustn’t be underestimated, though the state could creatively leverage change to its own advantage in order to emerge from this conflict even stronger. The Hybrid War on…
Fair warning. Stop reading right now if you want, because I’m going to repeat myself. What choice do I have, since my subject is the Afghan War (America’s second Afghan War, no less)? I began writing about that war in October 2001, almost 17 years ago, just after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. That was…
India has been facing a manifold crisis in which religious and ethnic minority groups and Dalits (those whose historic caste was that of untouchability) are facing a wave of sexual and physical violence as well as violence against their property and livelihoods. Recently, a series of rumours spread on messenger apps including and especially Whatsapp have…
The two-week-old feud between Riyadh and Ottawa has exerted only marginal pressure on the Canadian economy, experts say – and with neither side on track to concede fault, the path towards a resolution remains unclear. Saudi Arabia this month recalled its ambassador to Canada and announced a freeze on new trade and investment, after Canada’s…
American weapons makers have dominated the global arms trade for decades. In any given year, they’ve accounted for somewhere between one-third and more than one-half the value of all international weapons sales. It’s hard to imagine things getting much worse — or better, if you happen to be an arms trader — but they could,…
It has been described as China’s ‘Private Army.’ Fueled by growing demand from domestic companies involved in the multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, independent security groups are expanding in the country. In 2013, there were 4,000-registered firms, employing more than 4.3 million personnel. By 2017, the figure had jumped to 5,000 with staff numbers hovering…
