Four Years On: An Appraisal of the Taliban’s Return

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Grant Farrn 

August 2021 the world watched as thousands of people, both Americans and Afghans, crowded onto airplanes at the Kabul airport to escape the return of the Taliban. By the end of August 2021, the United States had evacuated over 200,000 people. On August 15, 2021, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fled the country, and the Taliban seized control of Kabul calling themselves the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The collapse of the Islamic Republic was predicated on the United States-Taliban deal that was signed in February of 2020. Most people assumed the Taliban would be unable to govern Afghanistan and that their government would not last. After all they were rural tribal people with a fundamental belief in a primitive version of Islam, and their control of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 was in many ways a disaster. But, the Taliban have now led the country for four years, with no end in sight.

Arguing that they are following basic Islamic law regarding the proper place for women in society, the Taliban have severely restricted the rights of women, restrictions more severe than in any other Islamic country. The treatment of women is the major reason the Taliban has not been recognized as the legitimate government of Afghanistan by many nations (Drury, 2025). The Taliban have also been denied a seat in the United Nations, again largely because of their treatment of women (Lederer, 2025). Recently the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders, Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of Afghanistan, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the chief Justice in the Afghan supreme court, for their treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan (Ayre, 2025).

 

Opinion – Could the United Nations Solve the Gaza Quandary?

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John Allphin Moore, Jr. and Jerry Pubantz

John Allphin Moore, Jr. and Jerry PubantzThe Gaza War presents a conundrum for the international community that evades straightforward answer. A cease-fire remains elusive; news overage deepens public angst and outrage, competing parties resist any possible bargain with opponents, and, most distressingly, there is no plan for a post-Gaza War, even if a lasting cease-fire could be achieved. The Israeli government seems determined to consolidate control in the strip for the foreseeable future; a hobbled Hamas persists as a player, intending to maintain political sway despite the withering military efforts of the IDF, and the Palestine Authority appears sclerotic and incapable of offering a significant leadership role. For a moment, President Trump seemed to suggest, as a post-war solution, the expulsion of all two million Palestinians to make way for a beachfront high-end development to attract wealthy tourists. By early August 2025, the U.S. administration had joined with the Israeli government in touting an “All or nothing” ultimatum, demanding full release of all hostages and a complete Hamas disarmament, while setting as its goal a completed occupation of Gaza by Israeli forces.

The situation regarding a post-war Gaza strategy, is, frankly, static and bleak. We believe that an imaginable answer to the challenge rests with the United Nations, and we recommend using the example of the UN’s peacekeeping efforts in Timor-Leste, one of the organization’s most successful operations, launched at the end of the last century.

 

China Advances and the US Retreats in Latin America and the Caribbean

Hyeran Jo and Nathalie Méndez

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The BRICS meeting in Rio on July 6th and 7th gives a snapshot of the great power competition between China and the United States in different regions around the world, including Latin America. China has become the largest trading partner for many countries in Latin America, investing heavily in infrastructure and forging political alliances that further its strategic objectives. For its part, the Trump Administration of the United States issued the statement that those participating countries will face increased tariffs. The statement was the continuation of exercise and assertion of its authority for the past and present century. 

The positioning of various BRICS members and participating countries is particularly telling of what the great power competition means in the region and also globally. Brazil’s Lula hosted the meeting aiming to showcase its foreign policy leadership, not necessarily antagonizing the West. Russia is still going through the war in Ukraine, and Putin attended only online. India’s Modi was present as well as Ramaphosa from South Africa. No show of Xi Jinping was notable, although Premier Li Qiang was attending. Besides the BRICS core, other countries also showed promotion of their interests. Iran, for one, joined the group in 2024 and sent a ministerial level delegation to rebuke recent strikes on Iran.

 

China’s War On Starlink: From Laser Attacks To Supply-Chain Sabotage, PLA Scientists Work To Wreck Starlink

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Nitin J Ticku

 

Chinese military scientists are relentlessly working on a new project — how to neutralize the Starlink advantage of its adversaries in the case of a war.

And, Beijing is debating everything from stealth submarines fitted with space-shooting lasers, supply-chain sabotage, custom-built attack satellites to kill Starlink satellites, to diplomacy and co-opting Elon Musk, the influential owner of Starlink and recent friend-turned-foe of US President Donald Trump.

In fact, Chinese scientists and researchers have published not one or two but dozens of papers in peer-reviewed journals debating the most efficient way of killing the thousands of Starlink satellites in the Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO).

Worried that these satellites could be used against China, for reconnaissance purposes during peacetime, and for targeting Chinese assets during a war situation, Chinese researchers have been discussing ways to counter this threat.

Notably, China is working on two parallel tracks simultaneously. On the one hand, Beijing is actively developing capabilities that can destroy and neutralize Starlink satellites within minutes; at the same time, Beijing is also developing its own LEO satellite system, the Qianfan mega-constellation project, also known as G60