ASIA AFGHANISTAN ISIS killed five Afghan border guards via roadside bomb on Thursday in Nangarhar province. At The Diplomat, analyst Samuel Ramani argues that Russia's interest in stabilizing Afghanistan is legitimate: Although Russia has been criticized by senior U.S. officials, like General John Nicholson and the U.S. Department of State’s Alice Wells, for allegedly providing arms to the Taliban, … Continue reading World update: August 31 2018

SYRIA Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in Idlib province blew up two bridges over the Orontes River on Friday in an effort to impede an expected Syrian government offensive from Hama province. The rebels are expecting the initial government attack to come in southwestern Idlib province, which would in part drive rebels further away from Russia's military … Continue reading Middle East update: August 31 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA The State Department on Thursday accused the Russian navy of "harassment of international shipping" for trying to "impede maritime transit" in the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait as part of an "ongoing campaign to undermine and destabilize Ukraine." Basically it seems Russia is barring ships from getting to Ukrainian ports. For its … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 30 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN The Chinese government is on what seems like the 40th variation of its "we're not sending troops to Afghanistan" story and it's only been a couple of days since the South China Morning Post initially reported that it was. On Thursday the story became that Beijing is going to help Afghanistan set up a … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 30 2018

SYRIA United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura is offering to try to negotiate a settlement to the situation in Idlib province, and considering his previous successes in negotiating peace in Syria I for one feel pretty good about his chances. De Mistura is at least looking to open humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave the … Continue reading Middle East update: August 30 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA While refusing to entirely do away with his government's proposed retirement age increase, Russian President Vladimir Putin did tone down the plan a bit on Wednesday by lowering the proposed new retirement age for women to 60, down from 63 in the initial proposal (though still up from 55 currently). Putin argued that … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 29 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Contrary to what the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday, the Chinese government insisted on Wednesday that it is not preparing to build a new military facility in Afghanistan, let alone planning to send its own soldiers to man that facility. Of course there's no particular reason to believe anything Beijing says, so … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 29 2018

SYRIA I don't want to be Derek Downer about this whole Idlib situation, but it seems to me that when you've got the Russian foreign minister running around talking about the province as a "festering abscess" that "needs to be liquidated," things are probably not heading in a positive direction. This particular festering abscess is … Continue reading Middle East update: August 29 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA I'm sure this is fine. Really, just very OK and normal: Russia is mobilizing for its biggest military exercise since the height of the Cold War, the Kremlin says, citing a tense international climate that is “frequently aggressive and unfriendly towards us.” The exercises, which are set to involve nearly 300,000 Russian troops, … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 28 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Secretary of Defense James Mattis seemed to rule out privatizing US military operations in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Of course he's not the guy who would be making that decision. According to the South China Morning Post, Beijing is planning to build a military "training camp" in Afghanistan: Once the camp is completed, the People’s … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 28 2018