EUROPE RUSSIA Moscow is planning to test its new intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-28 Sarmat, twice before the end of the year. The Sarmat was supposed to be tested in March but that's been delayed. Actually, if you want to be all nitpicky about it, the Sarmat was really supposed to be tested in 2015, but … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: October 25 2017

ASIA UZBEKISTAN Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has significantly shifted his country's position on foreign trade from what it was under his predecessor, Islam Karimov. Karimov liked to slap high tariffs on imported products to grow domestic industries, and Mirziyoyev has been undoing that policy since taking office. There are a lot of high barriers to … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: October 25 2017

IRAQ The Iraqi military has started dropping leaflets on the western Anbar towns of Qaim and Rawa, and their environs, in what sure seems like the prelude to a resumption of their offensive in that part of the country. The leaflets say, in part, that "your security forces are now coming to liberate you." The … Continue reading Middle East update: October 25 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Pardoned warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar recently gave a couple of interviews to the Guardian recently, in which he denied having committed any war crimes during the Afghan civil war (what, you believe your lying eyes?) and argued, seriously, that he could be a unifying force for Afghanistan. Hekmatyar claims to be in regular communication … Continue reading World update: October 24 2017

If I post this early, it's because WordPress is really messed up today and I'm worried that I might lose my work at some point. Anything I miss this evening I'll either update later or cover tomorrow. IRAQ As you might expect what with the campaign against ISIS approaching an end, violence in Iraq has … Continue reading Middle East update: October 24 2017

WAR ON TERROR The long-feared problem of waves of ISIS's foreign fighters returning home to carry out terror attacks hasn't materialized, at least not to the extent many analysts have been fearing, and the reason is pretty straightforward: more of them than expected have been killed in Syria and Iraq. But still, as Robin Wright … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: October 23 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Rex Tillerson's remarks during his surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday didn't offer much of note, though he did reiterate a Trump administration interest in negotiating with "moderate" Taliban. Tillerson said that "there's a place...in the government" for any Taliban who renounce violence. However, Tillerson's visit itself did cause a bit of a … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: October 23 2017

SYRIA During the 20 days it controlled the town of Qaryatayn in Homs province this month, ISIS reportedly executed at least 116 people (in the past hour I've started seeing reports that it was 128, but not from anywhere credible enough to confidently relay it) it suspected of collaborating with the Syrian government. Rami Abdel Rahman, … Continue reading Middle East update: October 23 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN A horrifying week in Afghanistan got a little worse over the weekend in two separate incidents. On Satuday, a Taliban suicide bomber hit a bus carrying military cadets from the Marshal Fahim Academy in Kabul, killing at least 15 of them. On Sunday, Nazuk Mir, a leader of the anti-Soviet rebels in the … Continue reading World update: October 21-22 2017

SYRIA The Syrian Democratic Forces captured the Omar oil field in eastern Deir Ezzor province on Sunday, setting up a potentially awkward situation with respect to the Syrian army. The New York Times calls this development "a major blow" to ISIS, but it's really a much bigger blow to the Syrian government. I mean, ISIS was … Continue reading Middle East update: October 21-22 2017