It is paradoxical, but true: the billions of dollars spent by the United States on the Afghan army ultimately brought distinct benefits only to the Taliban’s militants (a terrorist group that is banned in the Russian Federation). A US Department of Defense spokesman confirmed that the military equipment delivered by the US for the Afghan army – and seized…
Politics
Central Asia - Afghanistan
25.08.2021
After Afghanistan, the US Eyes China
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is going to allow the US “deep state” to focus even more keenly on the rapidly rising military and economic threat to the US unilateralism: China. When the US secretary of Defense recently visited Southeast Asia, the message he delivered was unequivocally about countering this very threat. Although the US was already lacking any…
Middle East
25.08.2021
The Struggle for Influence in Southeast Asia Continues
In early August, the mutual maneuvering of the world’s leading powers in the Southeast Asian sub-region continues. Their main participants are the United States and China, who are increasingly drawn into a struggle for the minds and hearts of people living in Southeast Asia. For the dominant influence on individual countries and the regional Association…
Southeast Asia
25.08.2021
Who is Responsible for the Collapse of Washington’s Afghan policy?
In the face of yet another blatant collapse of US foreign policy (this time following the comfortable entry into Kabul of the Taliban (banned in the Russian Federation)), not only around the world, but in the US itself, there was an active search for someone to blame. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on…
Central Asia - Afghanistan
24.08.2021
US Huawei Claims Regarding Pakistan: A Perfect Propaganda Storm
The Western media has been reporting on a US-based software maker, Business Efficiency Solutions (BES), and its allegations that Huawei not only “stole” its technology, but also built in “back doors” into a law-enforcement project built in Pakistan. It’s a three-for-one allegation, cementing further an ongoing and so far…
Eastern Asia - China
24.08.2021
Does the Anti-Taliban Resistance in Afghanistan have a Future?
After Taliban (the movement banned in the Russian Federation) militants entered the Afghan capital, Kabul, on 15 August and declared the “end of the war” in Afghanistan, the anti-Taliban resistance in the country has intensified. This is a clear indication that, unlike the former Afghanistan President, Washington-backed Ashraf Ghani, who fled…
Central Asia - Afghanistan
23.08.2021
US Removal from Afghanistan is Only Part of the Solution to the Region’s Problems
The complete and utter shambles that has characterised the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan raises a serious question of whether or not Joe Biden is actually in control of his administration. There are unconfirmed reports that the vice president Kamala Harris refused point-blank to have anything to do with the withdrawal…
Central Asia - Afghanistan
Economics
20.08.2021
The Real Reason Biden Abandoned Afghanistan So Fast
The scenes from Kabul prompted ten thousand newspapers to frame Saigon evacuation images alongside those from Afghanistan. Only this time Youtube was available to show human bodies falling from US Air Force planes, as Afghans clung to landing gear to escape the Taliban. The scenes, the bitter reality of it all, brought back the memory of America’s Southeast Asia…
USA in the World
18.08.2021
Can India Replace China for Australia?
At first glance, the question in the title seems a figment of the imagination, affected by this year’s abnormal heatwave. Indeed, the two great powers India and China, part of the narrow pool of significant players in the current “Great World Game,” occupy their spots at the gaming table. These spots, of course, are not entirely autonomous and overlap with each other to a certain extent…
Asian-Pacific region - Australia
16.08.2021
The US has Little to Offer to Southeast Asia
In his recent visit to Southeast Asia – the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore – the US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, outlined what can be called the blueprint of US re-engagement with the region after a lull of few years. One thing that becomes strikingly clear is that the US needs China to survive in Southeast Asia. However, the US does not need China as a friend…
Southeast Asia
13.08.2021
Can Russia Feed China?
At the beginning of 2021 the Chinese Embassy in Russia conducted a survey to determine which Russia-made goods are most in demand among those Chinese citizens living in or traveling in Russia. It turned out that the Chinese were most fond of Russian honey, milk and chocolate. Many of the respondents said that they would like to see more Russian products on shop shelves in China. Most of those surveyed…
Russia in the World
10.08.2021
It’s Time for Some New Light on the Dark Continent
The last time I looked, Africa was not doing all that well. The world’s second-biggest continent is no better off than it was under European colonial rule. Some places are worse off, as the number of desperately poor in sub-Saharan Africa continues to rise. Meanwhile, the same outside forces act as pirates to steal the legacy of 1.2 billion people. And despite all the rumors…
Africa
05.08.2021
Russia’s Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry and Its Relations with Azerbaijan
The Republic of Azerbaijan, a former Soviet state that is now a member of the CIS, is a long-term partner of Russia. Although it is not a member of such important (from Russia’s perspective) international organizations as the EAEC (Eurasian Economic Union) and the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), Russia…
Transcaucasia - Azerbaijan
02.08.2021
The US is Cashing In on Conflicts by Selling Outdated Equipment
The build-up of tensions and fears of foreign military invasion has always been used by US military and political circles to grow the arms business. Since fear is the ultimate motivator, it is stronger than all other feelings. A society that constantly reproduces “horrors” creates is shaping its own reality it lives in. And it is well known that American…
Europe
Society
25.08.2021
Sex and Violence in the South Korean Army
During a meeting with the country’s top military leaders on August 4, 2021, South Korean President Moon Jae-in stated that the Republic of Korea’s armed forces must work to regain the people’s trust. The armed forces have been undermined by several recent incidents, most notably a high-profile sex scandal. Recall that it all began on May 25, 2021, with the suicide…
Eastern Asia - South Korea
24.08.2021
The Pandemic has Caused Many Countries and Politicians to Lose their Standing
Since the time the virus started to spread, the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has reached 4 million people! The United States, the country that would seem to have the most technologically advanced healthcare system in the world, takes the lead in terms of the number of deaths from COVID-19 (more than 600,000 people). And India…
Europe
24.08.2021
Why has China Revised its Demographic Policy?
China has faced demographic problems for several decades now. For a long time, the Chinese authorities have been forced to take various large-scale and costly measures to regulate the birth rate in accordance with the needs of the state at the time. In 1979, when the birth rate was recognized dangerously high, the government launched the “One family…
Eastern Asia - China
19.08.2021
The Climate is Becoming Increasingly Hostile
In recent months, reports from various media on the manifestation of climate change in the world have become more like combat reports. Forest fires happen every year, but experts believe it is now more intense, more frequent, and on a larger scale. Not only the Mediterranean is on fire: raging flames are destroying vast areas worldwide, from Russia…
Russia in the World
17.08.2021
One Good Reason To Put Down The New York Times Forever
Why does it always start with the same weak lead-in, the Russophobia, I mean? This time the mighty New York Times overrode journalism 101 to let author Julian E. Barnes properly propagandize what publisher A. G. Sulzberger needs to say about those pesky Russians. The “story” begins like this: “A new campaign appears to be spreading falsehoods about the potential…
USA in the World
17.08.2021
Ideological Diversion Tactics, or Simple Incompetence?
On July 1, 2021 the government of South Korea requested police to investigate how a map of Pyongyang came to be included in a videoclip introducing Seoul at a conference of global climate change, held in May this year. The request was made after an internal investigation within the Foreign Ministry failed to determine whether subcontractors had deliberately…
Eastern Asia - South Korea
16.08.2021
Religious Сonflicts in India - Past, Present and Future
Popular unrest arising from religious differences has become increasingly commonplace in India over the last few decades. The proportion of Muslims in the country, which was recorded as 14.25% in the 2011 census, is increasing year by year, and the government, dominated by Hindus, is unwilling to face up to this reality. How long has this conflict between Hindus and Muslims…
Southern Asia - India
