As dusk fell, I went into a meditative state. I looked at the sky for a long time, listening to the nature around me, as though I had become an animal in harmony with my surroundings. My fear had vanished. As I started walking towards my destiny, I felt physically that I was changing my…
By Gabriela Marin Thornton and Arwin Rahi For much of its history, Afghanistan has been a battlefield for conflicts over regional influence in what has been called the Great Game. Now a weak state with deep ethnic divisions, located in a challenging security environment, Afghanistan is a key front in the pushback against terrorism. Once again, the country
The crisis in Ukraine has plunged US-Russian relations to their lowest point since the Cold War. Crimea is now Russian territory. Although prisoners of war have been exchanged and both sides have agreed to pull back heavy weapons, the accord signed on February 12 in Minsk has failed so far to stop the fighting in
The problem with revolutionary times (and in case anyone was in doubt – Ukraine’s revolution continues) is that so many things happen simultaneously that it sometimes can be extremely difficult to keep track. Normally, to understand 70-80% of the salient political issues in a country at any given time, one can focus either on foreign
