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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
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  • Afghanistan

Syria's foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, meets with Taliban foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, on the sidelines of an OIC meeting in Istanbul on 21 June 2025. AFP

Can the Taliban implement the 'Syrian model'?

When US forces withdrew from Afghanistan five years ago, Syrian rebels drew inspiration from the Taliban. Today, the roles are reversed.

Kamal Alam 14 August 2026
Remnants of war, such as a Soviet fighter jet, tanks and a military vehicle, are displayed at the Manzar-e-Jahad or the Jihad Museum that commemorates the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion of 1979, in Herat on 6 January 2026. WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP

The Russian military returns to Afghanistan 37 years later

A generation after the Soviets limped out of Central Asia, and only five years after the Americans followed suit, Russia is back in Kabul with a deal to train and equip the Taliban's fighters

Kamal Alam 21 June 2026
A man walks across a bus stand at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Torkham on October 13, 2025, amid cross-border clashes between the two countries. Abdul MAJEED / AFP

Border clashes recall Pakistan's tricky history with the Taliban

The flare-up is no isolated episode. Rather, it is the most dangerous chapter in a fraught, decades-long relationship that began during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s.

Kaswar Klasra 16 October 2025
An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier stands guard at a gate of a hospital inside the Bagram US air base after all US and NATO troops left, some 70 Km north of Kabul on July 5, 2021. WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP

Why Trump wants the Bagram Air Base "back"

Afghanistan's ancient town of Bagram once sat on the Silk Road, along a key passage from India. Today, it is sought by America, Russia, and China for different reasons that are no less strategic.

Kamal Alam 14 October 2025
Local residents walk past a house destroyed by an earthquake that killed nearly 1,000 people and devastated villages in eastern Afghanistan, on September 1, 2025. AFP

For Afghan quake victims, sympathy came faster than help

An earthquake in Afghanistan earlier this week levelled entire villages and left people trapped under rubble for days, but in the shadow of the Hindu Kush, saviours were thin on the ground

Kaswar Klasra 04 September 2025
Laura Hegarty_Al Majalla

Mike Waltz: The US war veteran-turned-NSA chief

Trump's new National Security Chief has already gone after officials who took part in Biden's blunderous exit from Afghanistan—a war he served in and learned a lot from

Kamal Alam 02 February 2025
Indian soldiers prepare for the guard of honour before the arrival of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the celebrations to mark Independence Day in New Delhi on August 15, 2023. Sajjad Hussain/AFP

Afghanistan is important to India despite New Delhi’s policies

India was close to the pre-Taliban regime but it collapsed when the US pulled out in 2021 and its successors now look to Russia and China. A land link to Central Asia, India knows it must re-engage

Shakir Husain 15 August 2024
Smoke rises from an explosion after a suicide squad tried to storm an army garrison in Bannu on July 15, 2024. Karim Ullah/AFP

Pakistan and Afghanistan in downward spiral after garrison attack

The Taliban's inability to deal with terrorist groups on its soil means Islamabad has launched its own military action over the border. To restore order, international mediation is now needed

Kaswar Klasra 14 August 2024
Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda, suspected of taking part in the attack on a concert hall that killed 137 people in Moscow, which IS-KP claimed, sits inside the defendant's cage on 24 March 2024. AFP

ISKP: Who are the murky terrorists behind the Moscow concert hall attack?

The Islamic State Khorasan Province has a history of carrying out attacks in central Asia, but its leadership and structure are largely opaque. Al Majalla explains.

Abdullah F. Alrebh 30 March 2024
Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, the movement has violated the rights of women and girls, according to Amnesty International. In the photo, a Taliban member stands guard in front of a line of women waiting to receive aid AP

Afghanistan braces for another difficult year ahead

More than two years after their takeover, Taliban rule continues to come at a painful cost for Afghan citizens

Omer Onhon 28 December 2023
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CIA Director John Ratcliffe at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on 15 August 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska, where Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin for peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. ANDREW HARNIK / AFP
Politics

Why Ratcliffe's secret visit to Moscow is concerning

27 August 2026

The American CIA director's visit looks to be a desperate attempt by the Trump administration to avert a doomsday scenario in which NATO is pulled into a larger war with Russia

Con Coughlin
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Beijing, China, on 2 September 2025. Reuters
Business & Economy

Will US sanctions on Iran bite? It may depend on China

26 August 2026

Beijing says it will not abide by the new 'Economic D-Day' measures and warns the US of retaliation if they hurt their oil trade with Tehran

Rana Freifer
Nigel Buchanan
Politics

Gadi Eisenkot: Israel’s next leader?

27 August 2026

Al Majalla looks at the former army general's career, political positions, possible paths to victory, and what a change in leadership could mean for Israel and the region after three years of war

Al Majalla - London
Sara Padovan
Science & Technology

When myth replaces medicine

25 August 2026

As social media transforms how people seek medical advice, figures such as Barbara O'Neill offer something conventional medicine rarely can: absolute certainty

Mohammed Mansour
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posing after signing the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on 7 August, 2026. PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE / AFP
Politics

Networked Middle East security

22 August 2026

The Iran war exposed the risks of being too closely tied to US military posture, which is why some Gulf states are repositioning themselves not merely as consumers of security but as architects of it

Bilal Saab

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