War & Conflict Archive

With a variety of major political and military events unfolding across Asia and the Middle East, many countries are re-examining longstanding formal and informal partnerships and alliances. As a result, the coming months and years will bring about a recasting of important strategic links, some of which have been part of the global landscape for decades. The combined effect of America’s war in Afghanistan, its fight against Muslim extremists inside Pakistan and the ongoing Arab uprisings are prompting a fundamental rethinking of some of the bilateral and multilateral ties that have served as the bedrock of international affairs in recent […]

With North and South Korea technically still at war after more than 60 years, a possible reunification of the two remains hindered by vast ideological differences and recent military altercations. However, South Korea continues to entertain the notion and is now promoting a government-funded Internet news outlet that advocates reunification with the North.

On Sept. 6, members of Afghanistan’s upper house of parliament declared that the Afghan government and the international community have failed in their counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan. Just three months earlier, Afghan Deputy Minister for Counternarcotics Baz Mohammad Ahmadi told reporters that more than 3 million Afghans continue to participate in the illicit drug industry. He pleaded with the international community to support further operations, especially in Afghanistan’s border provinces, and to consider establishing a counternarcotics academy within Afghanistan. Ten years after the United States first invaded the country on Oct. 7, 2001, the drug menace emanating from Afghanistan remains […]

The decision this week by Russia and China to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for its use of violence against its domestic opponents has attracted much attention — and opprobrium. What has generated less discussion is the fact that the three states of the IBSA bloc — India, Brazil and South Africa — abstained from the vote. But their unwillingness to support the resolution has clear implications both for the future of the “responsibility to protect” doctrine as well as for America’s own relationships with the rising democracies of the South. […]

This report produced by the human rights advocacy organization Amnesty International asserts that 10 years after a US-led military invasion removed the Taliban from Afghanistan, the Afghan government and its international supporters have failed to keep many of the promises they made to the Afghan people.

Videos posted on YouTube apparently show the aftermath of recent fighting between Syrian troops loyal to the government and defectors in the Syrian city of Rastan.

Serious communication gaps between the humanitarian sector and refugees in Dadaab, Kenya, are increasing refugee suffering and putting lives at risk, according to a new joint assessment report released by Internews, an international media development organization. Internews led the assessment and produced this video.

With instability rising in Afghanistan, U.S. power in the region approaching its apex and Pakistan appearing increasingly hostile, this World Politics Review special report examines the Afghanistan War through articles published in the past year. Below are links to each article in this special report, which subscribers can read in full. Subscribers can also download a .pdf version of this report. Not a subscriber? Purchase this report on Kindle or as a .pdf from Scribd. Or subscribe now. U.S. Strategy Obama’s Fragile Afghanistan Strategy By Nikolas Gvosdev January 14, 2011 Long-Term U.S. Presence in Afghanistan a Mistake By Thomas P.M. […]

The recent U.S. claims that Pakistan’s intelligence service have aided attacks against U.S. troops in Afghanistan; the discovery that Osama bin Laden had been living for years in a safe house in central Pakistan; the U.S. special forces operation to attack his Pakistani compound without notifying Pakistani authorities; the disputes over U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani territory: These and other controversies are surface manifestations of a deeper “trust deficit” between the United States and Pakistan. On Sept. 22, then-Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen made explosive comments about the nature of the relationship between Pakistan’s […]

In Tehran, the annual international pro-Palestine conference has gotten underway as the United Nations Security Council opened its discussions on Palestine’s bid for recognition.