Our technical problems have been resolved so I'm going to give this a shot, but it'll be a rush job so apologies for that. As I said in that earlier post the Thanksgiving holiday means that this will be our last set of updates until next week, though the site isn't going completely dark. We'll … Continue reading World update: November 17-18 2018

Our technical problems have been resolved so I'm going to give this a shot, but it'll be a rush job so apologies for that. As I said in that earlier post the Thanksgiving holiday means that this will be our last set of updates until next week, though the site isn't going completely dark. We'll … Continue reading Middle East update: November 17-18 2018

ASIA CENTRAL ASIA At The Diplomat, Ario Bimo Utomo explains why it's frustrating that the Central Asian republics can't shake the simplistic "post-Sovet" label: Despite such characteristics, the repeated use of “former Soviet” is both blinding and misleading as it diverts us from realizing that Central Asia is not a static region. Albeit slowly, the region … Continue reading World update: November 16 2018

SYRIA Jihadist fighters reportedly killed at least 22 pro-government fighters in a battle in Hama province near the Idlib demilitarized zone on Friday. The main jihadist group involved appears to have been Hurras al-Din, which is a group founded by a former senior Jabhat al-Nusra figure, Abu Humam al-Shami, who quit that organization when it cut ties … Continue reading Middle East update: November 16 2018

ASIAAFGHANISTAN At least 30 Afghan security personnel were killed in several Taliban attacks in Farah province on Wednesday and Thursday. The Taliban has been very active in Farah for the past several months, which Afghan officials have attributed to aid from both Iran and Pakistan. More than 50 Afghans were killed in the province by … Continue reading World update: November 15 2018

SYRIA The Russian government on Thursday expressed some dismay that Turkey has not yet managed to separate extremist and moderate rebels in Idlib province. That process is key to the Idlib ceasefire agreement those two countries are maintaining, though the chances of it actually succeeding have always been an extremely long shot given how strong … Continue reading Middle East update: November 15 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN At least 9 Afghan soldiers were killed in Maidan Wardak province and 3 Afghan police officers were killed in Takhar province late Tuesday in separate Taliban attacks. Meanwhile, at least 7000 Hazara are believed to have been displaced by recent Taliban advances in Ghazni province's Jaghori and Malistan districts. They've gone either to … Continue reading World update: November 14 2018

YEMEN At least seven civilians were killed late Tuesday by a coalition airstrike in Hudaydah. There has reportedly been an "informal truce" in place in Hudaydah since late Monday, explaining the lull in fighting there, but clearly it's not a total ceasefire. And any hope you might have had that Congress would force a ceasefire … Continue reading Middle East update: November 14 2018

ASIAAFGHANISTAN The Trump administration, led by Afghanistan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, may ask Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to postpone next year's presidential election so as to minimize disruptions as it seeks to engage the Taliban in peace talks. Of course suspending the election would itself be a huge political disruption that could lead to protests and … Continue reading World update: November 13 2018