International Affairs

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

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, not pictured, participate beside staff and cabinet members in a virtual meeting with Asia-Pacific nation leaders at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 12, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

The Quad (finally) delivers: Can it be sustained?

Susan A. Thornton

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

New Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Bin Taimour of Oman during a ceremony of receiving new ambassadors letters of credentials, at Al Alam palace in Muscat, Oman, on February 16, 2021. Photo by Balkis Press/ABACAPRESS.COM

Oman: First Arab leader to Washington in 1938, and due for another visit

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks to media after announcing that Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa will have pre-emergency status under a new prevention law during a government task force meeting at the prime minister's office, Tokyo, Japan, April 9, 2021. Eugene Hoshiko/Pool via Reuters

Suga-Biden summit to rekindle ‘can-do’ spirit of the US-Japan alliance

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's deputy leader and negotiator, and other delegation members attend the Afghan peace conference in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS

How the United States can select and work with nonstate armed actors as stabilization partners

Patrick W. Quirk and Prakhar Sharma

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a joint news conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (not pictured) at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan November 19, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

Under Biden, Pakistan and the US face a dilemma about the breadth of their relationship

Monday, April 12, 2021

Women shop at Kourosh mall in western Tehran, Iran June 22, 2019. Picture taken June 22, 2019. Nazanin Tabatabaee/Wana News agency/via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

Iran’s middle class and the nuclear deal

Djavad Salehi-Isfahani

Thursday, April 8, 2021

FILE PHOTO: Jordan's Crown Prince Hamza bin Hussein delivers a speech to Muslim clerics and scholars at the opening ceremony of a religious conference at the Islamic Al al-Bayet University in Amman, Jordan August 21, 2004. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji/File Photo

Jordan in turmoil

Monday, April 5, 2021

Dustin, an asylum-seeking migrant from Honduras, holds his six-year-old son Jerrardo, 6, as they awake at sunrise next to others who took refuge near a baseball field after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on rafts, in La Joya, Texas, U.S., March 19, 2021. Emergency blankets were provided to the group of about 150 migrants from Central America by the U.S. Border Patrol agents. REUTERS/Adrees Latif TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

4 things the Biden administration should pay attention to with the border crisis

Elaine Denny, David Dow, Jose Ordoñez, Wayne Pitts, Diego Romero, Juan Tellez, Mateo Villamizar Chaparro, Erik Wibbels, and Pamela Zabala

Friday, April 2, 2021

PICTURE SHOWS: Before and after the explosionThese satellite images show the extent of the devastation caused by the massive explosion at Beirut's port on Tuesday (4 August 2020).In one after photo the image shows a huge crater where a warehouse once stood.The images were captured the day after the explosion with WorldView-2 by European Space Imaging in order to assess the damage to the surrounding blast site.Almost 20 buildings have been completely destroyed, whilst hundreds of other surrounding buildings have been significantly damaged.A cruise ship has been overturned and four tankers have been damaged.According to AIS data, this cruise ship is the “Orient Queen” sailing under the flag of Bahamas, and originating from port King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia.It has been reported that the explosion at Beirut’s port resulted in the damage of 90% of the hotels in the Lebanese capital and that the blasts could be felt up to 200 km away in Cyprus.“When disaster strikes, VHR satellite imagery can provide critical information for emergency relief operations to evaluate the extent of damage and get an entire overview of the scene,” said Adrian Zevenbergen, Managing Director, European Space Imaging.“It supplies crisis management teams with logistical insights for planning and helps to monitor and detect any changes that may be critical to minimising or even eliminating further catastrophe.”The cause of the explosion is still unknown, however it has been reported that the blasts occurred in a section of the port that stores previously confiscated highly explosive substances.With the country already suffering a crippling economic crisis as a result of battling COVID-19, this explosion plummets the city into further catastrophe with the country’s leader, Hassan Diab, appealing for international assistance.Where: Beirut, LebanonWhen: 07 Aug 2020Credit: European Space Imaging/Cover Images**EDITORIAL USE ONLY. MATERIALS ONLY TO BE USED IN C

The not-so-secret value of sharing commercial geospatial and open-source information

Mir Sadat and Michael Sinclair

Wednesday, March 31, 2021