Vanda Felbab-Brown

The flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) is pictured from the Dowqarun border crossing between Iran and Afghanistan, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran August 29, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Will the Taliban regime survive?

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

A member of Taliban (C) stands outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 16, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Around the halls: The Taliban retakes Afghanistan

Madiha Afzal, Ranj Alaaldin, Daniel L. Byman, Giovanna De Maio, Vanda Felbab-Brown, Marvin Kalb, Suzanne Maloney, Patrick W. Quirk, Itamar Rabinovich, Douglas A. Rediker, Bruce Riedel, Federica Saini Fasanotti, Constanze Stelzenmüller, and Shibley Telhami

Monday, August 16, 2021

Villagers return from a market to Yechila town in south central Tigray walking past scores of burned vehicles, in Tigray, Ethiopia, July 10, 2021. REUTERS/Giulia Paravicini

Dangerous trends in Ethiopia: Time for Washington’s tough love

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Monday, August 9, 2021

FILE PHOTO: Scientists return a vaquita, a tiny stubby-nosed porpoise on the verge of extinction, into the ocean as part of a conservation project, in the Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico October 18, 2017. Semarnat/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY./File Photo

A porpoise to serve: Rescuing the vaquita and the US-Mexico relationship

Kristin Nowell and Vanda Felbab-Brown

Monday, July 26, 2021

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) speaks about seven women from Afghanistan who were assassinated for their efforts to improve the lives of Afghans, during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 27, 2021. T.J. Kirkpatrick/Pool via REUTERS

Afghanistan after American withdrawal: Part 3 — Where external actors have leverage

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Officials, including Afghan former President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban's deputy leader and negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, attend the Afghan peace conference in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS

Afghanistan after American withdrawal: Part 2 — Four scenarios

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Afghan National Security Forces keep watch outside of a military compound after a car bomb blast on the outskirts of Ghazni city, Afghanistan November 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mustafa Andaleb

Afghanistan after American withdrawal: Part 1 — Internal factors shaping developments

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Soldiers stand guard at the biggest marijuana plantation found in Mexico, in San Quintin, about 350 km (220 miles) away from Tijuana, July 13, 2011. Mexican soldiers discovered the plantation in a remote desert surrounded by cactuses, a top army officer said on Thursday. Soldiers patrolling the area found 300 acres (120 hectares) of pot plants being tended by dozens of men on Tuesday, said General Alfonso Duarte. Picture taken July 13, 2011. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes (MEXICO - Tags: SOCIETY CRIME LAW MILITARY)

Will cannabis legalization reduce crime in Mexico? Has it in the US?

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Monday, April 26, 2021

--FILE--A bottle of Fentanyl pharmaceuticals is displayed in Anyang city, central China's Henan province, 12 November 2018.China will add fentanyl-related substances to a supplementary list of controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances with non-medical use since May 1. The decision was announced Monday in a joint statement by the Ministry of Public Security, the National Health Commission and the National Medical Products Administration. Fentanyl and its analogues that were previously included in the list of controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as the related substances in the supplementary list, will remain to be controlled according to relevant regulations, the statement said.No Use China. No Use France.

Biden takes a reformist drug strategy, but the challenge of supply countries remains

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Monday, April 19, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his plan to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan, at the White House, Washington, U.S., April 14, 2021. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS

The US decision to withdraw from Afghanistan is the right one

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Thursday, April 15, 2021