Demonstrators walked calling on India to work in accord with the United Nations over the issue and end human rights violations, demand the return of civil liberties and release political prisoners. The nation of Afghanistan is in a state of crisis after Taliban fighters stormed the capital over the weekend.
Kabul was the last major city in the country to fall, there were scenes of panic across the region. The airport was closed earlier for soldiers to try and clear the runways - US military planes are now landing, including one carrying US marines. US President Joe Biden has defended his decision to pull out of Afghanistan, admitting events developed quicker than he thought.
Many Afghans left behind have spoken to the terror on the ground, with witnesses reporting occasional gunfire. President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan yesterday as Taliban leaders broadcast a victory message from the presidential palace in Kabul. A UN document has warned the Taliban has now stepped up its search for people who worked for Nato or the previous Afghan Government.
Door-to-door searches are reportedly being undertaken in a bid to find targets and threaten their family members. The hardline Islamist group has tried to reassure Afghans since seizing power in a lightning offensive, promising there would be "no revenge". But these recent actions indicate the Taliban's tactics have not changed since it was in power during the s. US troops have now withdrawn from Afghanistan and the Taliban has called the nation a "free and sovereign" state, describing the departure of US troops as "historic".
Fundamental tensions at the heart of the US-North Korea relationship could result in combative action. These incendiary comments were made after President Joe Biden delivered a policy speech to Congress earlier this month during which he discussed nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran saying they posed threats which must be addressed through "diplomacy and stern deterrence". Pyongyang also blasted Washington for criticizing its human rights record and Seoul for failing to stop anti—North Korea leaflets from being sent across the border.
Speaking on the topic of North Korea, first-term US leader Mr Biden said he is seeking middle ground between former president Donald Trump's emphasis on personal diplomacy and former president Barack Obama's approach of conditioning engagement on North Korean concessions. As North Korea is a nuclear power with its own complex relationship with China, it is a critical nation for US national security concerns.
The nations undertake many weapons and missile tests, small-scale military and cyber attacks with each posing a significant risk for potential escalation. The sister of the North Korean leader called South Korean authorities "treacherous" over the South's joint military exercises with the US.
The comments come despite a surprise thaw on the Korean peninsula, prompted by a series of personal letters between her brother and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in. Cross-border communications between North and South Korea were resurrected last month, but were paused as tensions escalated once again.
Trade is a less essential issue for both as they continue to fight coronavirus, the rising threat in Afghanistan and other more prevalent conflicts - but each nation is continuing to clash over security issues, the hi-tech sector and ideology. The trade war originally began after former US leader Donald trump accused China of unethical conduct. It has not always translated to decisive victories, but it has been an edge every other nation wants.
Yet U. And now off-the-shelf technologies can be bought to rival even the most advanced tools in the U. The winner of a recent robotics test, for instance, was not a U. An array of science-fiction-like technologies would likely make their debut in such a war, from AI battle management systems to autonomous robotics.
The recent steps taken by the U. Naval Academy illustrate where things might be headed. It added a cybersecurity major to develop a new corps of digital warriors, and also requires all midshipmen learn celestial navigation, for when the high tech inevitably runs into the age old fog and friction of war.
Just as the Internet reshaped our notions of borders, so too would a war waged partly online. The civilian players would also be different than those in Instead, tech geeks in Silicon Valley and shareholders in Bentonville, Ark.
The new forms of civilian conflict actors like Blackwater private military firms or Anonymous hacktivist groups are unlikely to just sit out the fight. As the U. This is true, but both the historic trading patterns between great powers before each of the last world wars and the risky actions and heated rhetoric out of Moscow and Beijing over the last year demonstrate it is no longer useful to avoid talking about the great power rivalries of the 21st century and the dangers of them getting out of control.
We need to acknowledge the real trends in motion and the real risks that loom, so that we can take mutual steps to avoid the mistakes that could create such an epic fail of deterrence and diplomacy. That way we can keep the next world war where it belongs, in the realm of fiction.
This is a book about superpowers and interests, but also about human beings and their troubles. The book begins with a major incident in the Strait of Hormuz, and it ends there too. En route, the authors added a story that at first glance has no connection to the plot and little effect on a U.
Israeli readers would find it of particular interest though. In the novel, Russia, which does not play a major role in the confrontation between the United States and China, suddenly decides to take advantage of the international tensions to take control of the strategic waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The Revolutionary Guard officer who interrogated the American test pilot takes a surprising part in this development, in service to his country.
Israel does not figure in the book at all, but after reading it Israelis will be left with intriguing unanswered questions, mainly about how Israel should act in the event of such a crisis, and how to protect its security. From both a regional and a global perspective, Israel has long ascribed special importance to the Persian Gulf. For the past 60 years contacts with people and elements there have yielded sustainable ties that serve genuine strategic interests of Israel and the Gulf as well.
Qatari Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwa al-Khater announced formally that recognizing the legitimacy of the new Afghan government is not on the agenda. Earlier this month U. The Taliban have said they want relations with several countries, including even the United States, but they specified that Israel was not among them.
In the past decade China has stepped up its activity in the Gulf. In addition to reaching agreements with Iran, it has sent feelers out to other players. Beijing is expanding its physical presence in the Persian Gulf and in northeast Africa, and aims to intensify its military presence in strategic locations throughout the region.
China maintains a permanent, symbolic but steadily growing military presence in the port of Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa not far from the Persian Gulf. Following the U. So far the Chinese do not appear to have established themselves solidly enough to translate their capabilities into control and military activity against the United States.
The United States faces two great threats: its traditional rival, Russia, but also China. Washington must carefully consider how to conduct itself in a conflict involving two or more fronts, in the absence of unlimited economic or military capabilities. Neither side ever imagined such an apocalypse, but a mutual spiral took away their judgment and their capacities for independent decision-making. Efraim Halevy is an Israeli intelligence expert and diplomat.
Efraim Halevy Sep.
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