Even after weeks of waiting, the Trump administration has yet to reveal its decision on what it will be doing in Afghanistan. This delay isn’t surprising, given the many other troublesome domestic issues competing …
Articles by: "Claude Rakisits"
The recent Taliban attack on an Afghan army post outside Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan—the deadliest-ever by the Taliban on a military base, killing some 150 recruits—underscores the terrorist group’s growing strength more than 15 years …
When President Trump signed the executive order on 27 January suspending the country’s refugee program and restricting entry to the US for citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Libya, …
Of all the eccentric conversations President-elect Trump has had with foreign heads of state and government since winning the election, the one he had last week with Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, ranks as …
Terrorists have again struck in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populated province. The attack confirmed that this resource-rich province remains Pakistan’s weakest security link against militants and separatists. And what’s more, it could threaten China’s …
President Obama, flanked by his Secretary of Defense—Ashton Carter—and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr.—announced at the White House on Wednesday 6 July his latest—and last—troop adjustment for Afghanistan. …
When President Obama endorsed Hillary Clinton after she clinched the required number of delegates to become the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, he stated that he thought there had never been ‘someone so qualified to …
On 21 May, Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, leader of the Afghani Taliban, was assassinated by an American drone strike in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, just across the border with Afghanistan. Mullah Mansour’s death was announced by …
Washington has a serious long-term relationship dilemma with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And President Obama’s April visit to Saudi Arabia—the fourth one as president—was all about trying to shore up that relationship. Notwithstanding the …
Following Senator Ted Cruz’s much expected defeat of Donald Trump in the 5 April Wisconsin primary, Trump’s goal of winning the majority of delegates by the time the Republican Party holds its convention in July …
First, the good news. The American and Russian-brokered ceasefire in Syria, the ‘cessation of hostilities’, which became effective on 27 February, has been holding. Sort of. The guns have certainly not fallen silent—far from it—but …
Afghanistan has yet again made headlines over the past fortnight, and, as is often the case, not for positive reasons. On 1 February a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up at a police office in …