Armed Conflicts

Militancy Pushes Northern Pakistan Close to Industrial Collapse

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Already saddled with a veritable catalogue of crises, Pakistan’s largest province, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) now finds itself on the verge of industrial collapse, as extortion and kidnappings drive away all prospects for production or employment.

Not Yet a Week and Another South Sudan Ceasefire Fails

By Andrew Green
It has not yet been a week, but South Sudan’s most recent ceasefire appears set to collapse, along with hopes that – after five months of fighting – the country might finally be on the path to recovery.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram Begins to Destabilise Cameroon

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

Senior defence officials say that Cameroon has been infiltrated by Nigeria’s Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and there are fears that this central African nation, known for its stability, is drifting into chaos.

Kremlin’s International Policies Could Mean Russian Brain Drain

By Pavol Stracansky
As Russia faces harsh sanctions and growing international isolation over its annexation of Crimea and support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, economists and sociologists are warning that the Kremlin’s international policies may fuel a potentially devastating brain drain.

Eyewitness to Nuke Explosion Challenges World Powers

By Thalif Deen
When the Foreign Minister of Marshall Islands Tony de Brum addressed a nuclear review Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting at the United Nations last month, he asked whether anyone in the room had witnessed a nuclear explosion.

In Syria, Life Goes On Despite Everything

By Eva Bartlett
On a weekday afternoon, the Old City of Damascus heaves with people, cars, motorcycles, bikes. Markets are crowded with locals bartering with merchants for the heaps of spices, flowery perfumes, clothing, and most things one needs, abundant in the Hamidiyah market.

El Salvador’s New Government to Inherit Hot Potato of Gang Truce

By Edgardo Ayala

When left-wing president-elect Salvador Sánchez Cerén takes office in El Salvador on Jun. 1, he will find big cracks in the truce between street gangs brokered by the outgoing administration, which has brought crime rates down in the past two years.

New Gestures to Opposition Unlikely to Change U.S. Syria Policy

By Jim Lobe
Despite new gestures of support for the Syrian opposition, the administration of President Barack Obama is unlikely to change its longstanding policy of restraining U.S. involvement in the country’s more than three-year-old civil war, according to experts here.

Gaps Remain in U.N. WMD Resolution

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations claims that a key Security Council resolution adopted unanimously back in 2004 has been instrumental in keeping weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) from the hands of terrorists and insurgent groups worldwide.

OP-ED: We Must Stand Up in Defence of Nigeria’s Abducted Schoolgirls

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Babatunde Osotimehin
Today more than 200 schoolgirls will wake up to another day in an unthinkable nightmare. Three weeks ago, they were seized in the night by armed men dressed as soldiers who said they were there to protect them.

Palestinians Take the Tough Path Towards Unity

By Khaled Alashqar
The nascent move for reconciliation between the Fatah party in the West Bank and Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip could change the balance in the Middle East – if it were to proceed and deliver as promised.

U.N. Probe Chief Doubtful on Syria Sarin Exposure Claims

By Gareth Porter
The head of the U.N. team that investigated the Aug. 21, 2013 Sarin attack in the Damascus suburbs, Ake Sellstrom, is doubtful about the number of victims of the attack reported immediately after the event.

Sweden’s Elites More Loyal to NATO than to Their People

By Jan Oberg
Over the last 25-30 years Sweden’s military, security and foreign policy elites have changed Sweden’s policy 180 degrees.

Fatwa Comes Too Late for Kashmir’s Half-Widows

By Athar Parvaiz
Forty-seven-year-old Shahmala’s husband has been missing since 1993. In India’s restive Jammu and Kashmir state, she is what is known as a half-widow, a woman who has no clue whether her husband is dead or alive.

With Refugees Comes Crime

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Blaming Afghan refugees for a surge in crime, Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has placed restrictions on the movement of those who do not possess legal documents to stay in the country.

Syrian Split Divides Christians

By Karlos Zurutuza
Malki Hana says his men are afraid of cameras. “Most of them are army defectors and they may easily get in trouble," says this commander of a mostly unknown armed group in Syria.

OP-ED: The Two-State Option is Dead: Time for New Thinking

By Emile Nakhleh
The recent suspension of the U.S. -engineered Israeli-Palestinian talks signals a much deeper reality than the immediate factors that caused it. The peace process and the two-state solution, which for years were on life support, are now dead.

Women Voters Win

By Abdullah Omeed
About a third of the voters in the Afghanistan presidential election were women. That still gives Afghan women a say in running the country, as never before.

Displaced and Disturbed in Pakistan

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Every night in his sleep, Rizwan Ahmed sees his sons being killed. “When he wakes up, he starts crying. He realises they are dead and it was the nightmare he has been having,” says Dr. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the psychiatrist treating him.

Philippines Bases Hopes on US, Controversially

By Richard Heydarian
Amid growing uncertainties over U.S. commitment to Asia, as multiple flashpoints in Eastern Europe and the Middle East continue to consume global attention, President Barack Obama took a long-awaited trip (Apr. 23-29) to Asia, where he visited leading allies in North- and Southeast Asia.

Turkey and Armenia: Are Erdoğan’s “Condolences” a Turning Point?

By Joshua Kucera
Turkish-Armenians are welcoming Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's offer of “condolences” for the mass killings of Armenian that began 99 years ago during the Ottoman era. But opinions are mixed as to whether Erdoğan’s words will lead the renewed action toward reconciliation.
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