The “National Defense Strategy” document released at the beginning of this year declared bluntly that the nearly two-decade focus by the US military on the so-called “global war on terrorism” had come to an end. In its place, a new strategic orientation was being introduced based on preparing for “great power” confrontation, i.e., war with…
Pakistan-Afghanistan relations: Lessons learned the hard way Throughout the Cold War period, the phenomenon of ethnic Pashtun nationalism on either side of the Durand Line led to Pakistan developing an intense suspicion of multiple Afghan governments in Kabul. The Durand Line which itself is a legacy of British imperial rule in south Asia remains the internationally…
He is arguably the most notorious person in the 21st century. The world takes for granted that Osama bin Laden was the architect of the “terror attacks” of Sept. 11, 2001. But why was this man singled out for this horrific crime? How did we learn of his alleged guilt? And what is the evidence used…
The fast-moving and full-spectrum Russian-Saudi rapprochement has now been revealed to have taken on peacemaking dimensions in Syria. The Saudi Ambassador to Russia gave an exclusive interview to Sputnik where he revealed that the two Great Powers are working more closely together in Syria than had previously been acknowledged. Up until this point, it was…
In the first part of this series, I estimated that about 2.4 million Iraqis have been killed as a result of the illegal invasion of their country by the United States and the United Kingdom in 2003. I turn now to Afghan and Pakistani deaths in the ongoing 2001 U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. In part three, I will…
Africa is set to become a major theatre of war in the near future, as the scale of US military involvement will continue to increase on the resource-rich continent. In October of last year, the general public was given a glimpse into the degree to which US forces are operational in Africa, when four US…
