Islamist Movements

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

French soldiers of the "Belleface" Desert Tactical Group (GTD) conduct an area control operation in the Gourma region during the Operation Barkhane in Ndaki, Mali, July 27, 2019. Picture taken July 27, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

20 years after 9/11, jihadi terrorism rises in Africa

Monday, August 30, 2021

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, political chief of Afghanistan's Taliban, in Tianjin, China July 28, 2021. Picture taken July 28, 2021. Li Ran/Xinhua via REUTERS

How will China seek to profit from the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

KHATLON REGION, TAJIKISTAN, AUGUST 10, 2021: A joint military exercise by Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the Harb-Maidon military training ground, at 20 km from the border to Afghanistan. 2,500 servicemen (including 1,800 Russian servicemen) with around 500 pieces of military hardware are taking part in the military exercise, which runs from 5 to 10 August 2021. Nozim Kalandarov/TASS.

Russia and America’s overlapping legacies in Afghanistan

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

People on vehicles, holding Taliban flags, gather near the Friendship Gate crossing point in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan July 14, 2021. Picture taken July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Abdul Khaliq Achakzai

An uneasy limbo for US-Pakistan relations amidst the withdrawal from Afghanistan

Friday, August 6, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden SPEAKS with Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Treat Iraq’s Iran-aligned militias like ISIS

Friday, July 30, 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

Flames and smoke rise during Israeli air strikes amid a flare-up of Israel-Palestinian violence, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT

Hamas tries to seize the day

Daniel L. Byman

Wednesday, May 12, 2021