Conflict and Peace

Both Georgia and Azerbaijan have been providing essential transit support for the evacuation from Kabul airport. 120 Azerbaijani soldiers returned back from Afghanistan on Friday (27 August) having been part of the defence of Kabul airport until the end. A larger Georgian contingent returned from the north of the country recently.

Very few people had heard of them before, but following the heinous attacks in the last twenty four hours against civilians crowding at the gates of Kabul airport in a desperate attempt to leave the country, everyone is talking about ISIS-K. More than ninety people died in the attacks, and many more were injured.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths warned on Monday (23 August) at a Security Council session that 5 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine. The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called the Houthis to accept a ceasefire without pre-conditions. 

Beijing can turn the situation in Afghanistan to its own advantage, argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. Afghanistan has significant minerals, including rare earth metals, which China will be glad to import. Beijing  could also include Afghanistan in the “Belt and Road initiative” and use it as another land route towards Iran and the Central Asian republics via Pakistan, and through Iran via Turkey or via Armenia-Georgia-Black Sea route to Europe.

A state cannot be built from outside, with a foreign army standing on top of it to supervise the process, argues Dennis Sammut in this commentary. As the EU expands its global ambitions, it must be aware of the risks of "mission creep" and make sure the mistakes in Afghanistan are not repeated.

A hint of what is going on is contained in a story ran by the international news agency, The Associated Press (AP). The agency reported that the Taliban do not plan to make any decisions or announcements about the upcoming government until after the August 31 US withdrawal date passes.