ASIA AFGHANISTAN Afghan authorities have apparently started arresting teachers working for the Afghan Turk CAG Educational NGO (ATCE), which has been running schools in the country for a couple of decades now. Why, you ask? Well, because the Afghan government and (apparently) the Turkish government believe that ATCE is a branch of the Gülen network. ATCE representatives … Continue reading World update: December 14 2017

SYRIA United Nations-brokered peace talks in Geneva--stop me if you've heard this one before--collapsed on Thursday having made no progress. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura laid the blame squarely on Damascus, saying that its delegates were "not willing to meet anyone who has a different opinion" and had squandered "a golden big opportunity." That last … Continue reading Middle East update: December 14 2017

DEVELOPMENT AID Virginia Tech political science professor Ryan Briggs says that recent gains in the fight against global poverty have essentially come from targeting urban poor, who are often the easiest at risk populations to reach. More work needs to be done to ensure that development and humanitarian aid reaches the poorest and most isolated … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: December 13 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN The expansion of the CIA's mission in Afghanistan is already coming at a cost for Afghan civilians in Khost province, who have to deal with the agency-backed Khost Protection Force (KPF) militia: The intelligence’ surveillance complex has become part of the people’s daily life in Khost. Surveillance balloons, antennas on every hill, and … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: December 13 2017

IRAQ Regular readers will know what a big fan I am of Patrick Wing's "Musings on Iraq" blog, which does invaluable work digesting Iraqi media for English-speaking audiences. Wing today is arguing that the Iraqis fudged the completion of their Jazeera operation, the effort to sweep the western Anbar desert for remaining ISIS members, to … Continue reading Middle East update: December 13 2017

Happy Hanukkah to those readers who are celebrating! CLIMATE CHANGE Good news from the Arctic: Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing faster than ever, according to a new US government report that also found Arctic seawater is warming and sea ice is melting at the fastest pace in 1,500 years.   The annual report released … Continue reading World update: December 12, 2017

Happy Hanukkah to those readers who are celebrating! Now on to the bad news: SYRIA Syrian opposition negotiators say the government's negotiating team is refusing direct talks and will not engage on any issue at all other than "combatting terrorism." Which, under Damascus's definition, presumably includes everybody in the opposition delegation. Obviously there's no particular … Continue reading Middle East update: December 12 2017

ASIA MYANMAR The AP has conducted an in-depth investigation into the rape of Rohingya women by Myanmar soldiers. It is absolutely chilling and should be read as widely as possible, so please go do that: The rape of Rohingya women by Myanmar’s security forces has been sweeping and methodical, the Associated Press found in interviews … Continue reading World update: December 11 2017

IRAQ Having declared victory over ISIS, Patrick Wing says that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi now has to show that he can be an effective peacetime leader, and so far the signs are not all that encouraging: Abadi has proven to be a very good war leader, but now that is over he faces an … Continue reading Middle East update: December 11 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Taliban fighters killed three Afghan soldiers on Saturday in an attack on a checkpoint in Ghazni province. INDIA The first stage of voting took place on Saturday in regional elections in India's Gujarat state. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has campaigned heavily to ensure that his Bharatiya Janata Party retains the majority in the … Continue reading World update: December 9-10 2017