World News Insights: Opinion Articles

To a large extent, the US departure from Afghanistan is similar to its departure from Iraq: after years of military presence, not much of a maintainable legacy is left behind. The fate of Kabul is largely similar to the fate of Mosul, where ISIS overtook the city and much of the Iraqi Army’s…

A month ago I thought I was a cynic about our 20-year war in Afghanistan. Today, after watching our stumbling withdrawal and the swift collapse of practically everything we fought for, my main feeling is that I wasn’t cynical enough. My cynicism consisted of the belief that the American effort…

As of this Thursday, September 2, 389 days have gone since Lebanon last had a government. The August 4 Beirut blast had toppled Hassan Diab's government by the tenth of that month. And those who were designated to form an alternative government have been made to fail: Mustapha Adib and Saad al…

On August 31, President Joe Biden addressed the American public and the world at large, and remarked that having withdrawn troops the night before, we had ended the war in Afghanistan. The decision to disengage he said, was “the best decision for America” and going forward, US foreign policy would…

The Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan is, first and foremost, a tragedy for Afghans. The world’s attention is rightly focused on trying to help those desperately trying to flee the country and worrying about those left behind, notably women and girls. But it is also a severe blow to the West…

BMW AG is set to effectively bail out its flailing Chinese joint-venture partner. For the German carmaker, that’s a smart move. BMW’s China unit is close to a deal to buy production assets worth $252 million from the parent of its main partner, Brilliance Auto, Bloomberg News reported citing…

A paradox of President Joe Biden’s decision to end the war in Afghanistan is his vow to keep fighting the wider battle against terrorism even in the country he has just abandoned. It has been a theme of Biden’s administration since he announced the unconditional withdrawal in April. The…

Before the ink could dry on India’s quarterly gross domestic product statistics, officials have been quick to parade last quarter’s 20% growth as vindication of their prediction of “imminent V-shaped recovery.” How sensible is that claim? The April-June period was when the pandemic overwhelmed…

China is not a fan of video games. Earlier this week, a government agency announced new rules that would restrict the time that minors’ can play online games to about three hours a week — down drastically from a prior limit of roughly 10 hours. Beijing has said the constraints were imposed to…

Within few hours both Herat and Kandahar fell to the Taliban. The fall of Afghanistan’s third and second most populous cities, respectively, meant that the fate of the capital Kabul would not be different. As expected, the first reaction from the major Western powers, which had troops and…

When the United States waged the Iraq War, which was preceded by the Afghanistan war two years prior, the US accompanied it with an abundance of ideology and military scarcity. Far fewer forces headed to Baghdad than the battles demanded. The alliance that George W. Bush built to this end was…

Some observers wonder if Afghanistan is a model for Biden’s policy in the Middle East. One article in Foreign Policy online from August 19 said Iraqis worry that perhaps Biden will abandon Iraq too, and an August 29 article in the Emirati National News online asked the same question. I urge readers…