Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on Somalialand’s plan to compete head to head with Djibouti for Ethiopia’s trade: Anchored at the deepwater port of Berbera, an Ethiopian-flagged ship offloads its cargo of sugar and rice coming from India in what officials hope is a sign of a fresh era of trade in the self-declared east […]
Read more »Via Geopolitical Futures, commentary on Uzbekistan in light of the U.S. decision to withdraw from Afghanistan: In our 2019 Annual Forecast, we said we expected Uzbekistan to challenge Kazakhstan as the dominant power in Central Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed any progress toward that end, but now that the world seems to be getting past the […]
Read more »Via Silk Road Briefing, an article on some signs of normalcy returning to Afghanistan: Signs of normality returning as Afghani banks reopen and national infrastructure projects restart Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said that one of the group’s main priorities, once it has established itself in power in Afghanistan, is to push ahead with the TAPI […]
Read more »Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on the Tailban’s challenge of paying government salaries and keeping the country running: The toppling of Afghanistan’s pro-western government and re-establishment of Taliban control has handed the running of the country’s formal economy over to the Islamists. Yet this task will not be completely alien to the militant […]
Read more »Via The Diplomat, a look at BRI’s future in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan: When the United States and its allies began evacuating from Kabul on August 15, as the Taliban entered the Afghan capital, China decided to keep its embassy open and claimed it was ready for friendly relations with the Taliban. State Councillor and Foreign Minister […]
Read more »Courtesy of The New York Times, commentary on the Taliban’s control of border crossings: After their stunning capture of Kabul, the Taliban have tried to convey a sense of calm. Only days after Afghanistan’s top officials scrambled onto military flights and desperate Afghans clung to the fuselage of departing planes, the Taliban coolly went on inspection tours of government […]
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