World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The speed and scope of the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan have prompted introspection in the West over what went wrong, and how, after billions of dollars spent on a 20-year war effort, it could all end so ignominiously. China, though, is looking forward. It is ready to step into the void left…

Talking last month about the planned American exit from Afghanistan, President Biden prophesied an orderly retreat and scoffed at the idea that a Taliban takeover was inevitable. The United States, after all, had equipped and trained hundreds of thousands of Afghan troops. The Taliban takeover…

The 1918 influenza pandemic, the deadliest pandemic in modern history, is typically associated with a single year, but it actually lasted for more than two. The virus that caused it is thought to have emerged in the United States in January of that year, and it claimed its tens of millions of…

As I watch events in Afghanistan unfold, I find myself trying to ignore all the commentary and longing instead to interview three people: President Lyndon Johnson, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan. Friedman: President Johnson, what did you think…

US envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke disagreed with President Obama’s insistence on significantly increasing the number of troops stationed in Afghanistan, which had been requested by the military. He argued that a quick spike in the number of troops would mean a decisive subsequent decrease…

Booster Shots: Who Needs Them? Navigating the coronavirus pandemic has never been easy for people, corporate people, governments or, uh, deer. But the cocktail of vaccines and variants makes it more befuddling than ever. For the unvaccinated, the answer is obvious: Get vaccinated. But what…

President Joe Biden gave a White House speech on the situation in Afghanistan Monday. Before he spoke, I suggested eight things he should try to do (the eighth being that he should make it short, which of course is a bit of a challenge when it’s the eighth item). But I’ll take a step back: What…

The Afghan cities fall in rapid succession, like men caught in enfilade fire. First Zaranj, Kunduz a few days later, then Kandahar and Lashkar Gah. Next is Mazar-i-Sharif. And finally, the Taliban begin their move to swiftly and decisively take Kabul. I watch this news, and at first I feel…

With President Ashraf Ghani’s hasty flight from Kabul, we are now witnessing the fall of the second of five regimes that label themselves Islamic Republic in just over two years. The first to fall was the Islamic Republic of the Sudan and what we have left are Islamic Republics in Pakistan,…

A retired British general did not believe that officials from his country and the United States could be astonished by the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan if they read their daily intelligence reports. This is in line with many political observers’ questions about the developments in…

China won’t be rushing into Afghanistan any time soon — not to fill the political and security void left by the US and not to expand President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road project. However decisive the Taliban’s victory looks right now, the country is far too fragile for Beijing to…

Since early in the pandemic, soaring demand for consumer electronics led to persistent chip shortages. Some recent signs suggest the situation may finally be starting to change. An executive at the memory-chip maker Micron Technology Inc. said last week at an investor conference that demand for…