Armed Conflict
The War Is Ending. The Terrorism Isn’t.
On Thursday evening, thousands of people were still gathered outside Kabul airport, hoping to escape Afghanistan before the final American troops leave. Then a bomb exploded at Abbey Gate. An ISIS-K suicide bomber attacked the…
The Taliban Won the War. Now It Has to Govern.
Afghanistan’s government disappeared with astonishing speed. President Ashraf Ghani fled. The Taliban occupied the presidential palace. Twenty years of American-backed government effectively ended. This week, the images have changed. The battlefield has been replaced by…
Kabul Has Fallen. Twenty Years of War Ended in a Week.
There will undoubtedly be an argument that America gave Afghanistan twenty years, enormous amounts of money and a military, and Afghans simply failed to use them. That explanation absolves the foreign power almost perfectly. It…
Five Provincial Capitals in Three Days. Afghanistan Is Starting to Look Very Different.
Last Sunday, I wrote that the Taliban was beginning to test whether Afghanistan’s government could defend major cities without large numbers of foreign troops. Seven days later, that test is already producing answers. And they…
America Is Leaving Afghanistan. The Taliban Isn’t Waiting.
In April, when President Biden announced that American troops would leave Afghanistan, I wrote that there would probably never be a perfect moment to withdraw. I still think that. But four months later, watching what…
Ethiopia Declared Victory. Seven Months Later, It Lost Mekelle.
For months, forces aligned with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front had continued fighting the Ethiopian military and its allies despite the federal government’s capture of Mekelle last November. Recently, those Tigrayan forces launched a major…
You Don’t Have to Trust Someone to Talk to Them
After several hours, the two presidents emerged separately, held separate press conferences and acknowledged that they continued to disagree about almost everything that brought them there in the first place. Strangely, I think that may…
Belarus, Sanctions and the Limits of International Power
Ryanair Flight 4978 was travelling from Athens to Vilnius when Belarusian authorities informed its pilots of an alleged bomb threat and the aircraft landed in Minsk. Once it did, Belarus arrested opposition journalist Roman Protasevich…
A Ceasefire Is Not Peace
After eleven days of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire mediated by Egypt. For Israelis who had spent nights running towards bomb shelters and Palestinians who had lived through Israeli bombardment of Gaza,…
Jerusalem, Gaza and the Problem With Choosing a Side
Rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israeli cities. Israel has responded with extensive air strikes on Gaza. Buildings have collapsed, families have been killed and Israeli civilians have repeatedly rushed towards bomb shelters. Yet…
20 Years Later: When Is It Time to Leave?
This week, President Joe Biden announced that all American troops would leave Afghanistan by 11 September 2021, bringing America’s longest war towards an end. Twenty years. That number feels almost impossible to understand. The war…
Diplomacy in Suspension: Negotiation Without Trust and Power Without Resolution
This week’s international developments reveal a global order increasingly defined by suspended outcomes. Diplomacy persists, negotiations resume, alliances deepen, and crises are managed, yet rarely resolved. I observe that states are engaging not to close…
