Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Bedlam reigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 02/06/2023
» Afghanistan and Pakistan are sinking deeper into disarray, and the US bears a significant share of the blame. As long as this long-troubled region remains in turmoil, Islamist terrorism will continue to thrive, with grave implications for international security.
Of debt and bondage with Beijing
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 26/11/2022
» Recently released details of Kenya's 2014 loan agreement with China to finance a controversial railway project have once again highlighted the predatory nature of Chinese lending in developing countries. The contract not only imposed virtually all risk on the borrower (including requiring binding arbitration in China to settle any dispute), but also raised those risks to unmanageable levels (such as by setting an unusually high interest rate). With terms like that, it is no wonder some countries around the world have become ensnared in sovereignty-eroding Chinese debt traps.
US-India ties too important to be neglected
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 18/10/2022
» The upcoming joint military exercise between the US-India known as War Practice, in a high-altitude area less than 100 kilometres from India's border with China, highlights the partnership's growing strategic importance. India holds more annual military drills with the US than any other country, as the two powers seek to improve their forces' interoperability.
No justification for engaging with Taliban
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 19/08/2022
» In the year since the United States' disgraceful abandonment of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the country has gone down precisely the path any logical observer would have predicted: a medieval, jihadist, terrorist-sheltering emirate has been established. The US will incur costs for betraying its Afghan allies for a long time to come. But nobody will pay a higher price than Afghans.
Crippling blow to the global war on terror
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 13/09/2021
» The American-led global war on terror, launched 20 years ago after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks against the United States, was already faltering before President Joe Biden took office. Now it may not recover from the blow delivered by Mr Biden's historic blunder in facilitating the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan. The flag of the world's deadliest terrorists -- responsible for killing over 2,000 US soldiers since 2001 -- flies above Kabul on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Saudi Arabia's phoney war on terror
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 23/12/2015
» Containing the scourge of Islamist terror will be impossible without containing the ideology that drives it: Wahhabism, a messianic, jihad-extolling form of Sunni fundamentalism whose international expansion has been bankrolled by oil-rich sheikhdoms, especially Saudi Arabia. That is why the newly announced Saudi-led anti-terror coalition, the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism, should be viewed with profound scepticism.
How the West sowed seeds for terrorism
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 19/11/2015
» The Islamic State's horrific attacks in Paris are a stark reminder that Western powers cannot contain -- let alone insulate themselves from -- the unintended consequences of their interventions in the Middle East. The unravelling of Syria, Iraq and Libya, together with the civil war that is tearing Yemen apart, have created vast killing fields, generated waves of refugees and spawned Islamist militants who will remain a threat to international security for years to come. And the West has more than a little to do with it.
Dalai Lama lineage faces uncertain future
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 08/07/2015
» On the 80th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama, who has been in exile in India since 1959, Tibet's future looks more uncertain than ever. During his reign, the current Dalai Lama has seen his homeland - the world's largest and highest plateau - lose its independence to China. Once he dies, China is likely to install a puppet as his successor, potentially eroding the institution.
America rushes into yet another war
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 25/09/2014
» It is official: US President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama is at war again. After toppling Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi and bombing targets in Somalia and Yemen, Mr Obama has initiated airstrikes in northern Iraq, effectively declaring war on the Islamic State — a decision that will involve infringing on the sovereign, if disintegrating, state of Syria. In his zeal to intervene, Mr Obama is again disregarding US and international law by seeking approval from neither the US Congress nor the United Nations Security Council.
Afghans must be ready post-US
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 31/03/2014
» As it braces for its upcoming presidential election, Afghanistan finds itself at another critical juncture, with its unity and territorial integrity at stake after 35 years of relentless war. Can Afghanistan finally escape the cycle of militancy and foreign intervention that has plagued it for more than three decades?