On a special episode of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast, Madiha Afzal, Scott Anderson, John Hudak, Elaine Kamarck, Suzanne Maloney, and Bruce Riedel recall their personal experiences of the September 11 attacks and assess how 9/11 changed government and policy.
Is China teetering on the cusp of social upheaval? Ryan Hass examines a series of crackdowns and what they could mean for perceptions of China's trajectory, including among the international business community.
The period after 9/11 was the high point in U.S.-Russian relations since the Soviet collapse. Angela Stent explains why the anti-terrorism partnership between the nations ended and what the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan might mean for future relations.
“It is much easier being an insurgent or a revolutionary than being a governor… The Taliban is an extraordinarily competent, sophisticated, and successful insurgency… But it’s still nonetheless very unprepared to be running a country like Afghanistan in the 21st century.”
September 3, 2021 | Vanda Felbab-Brown, Horns of a Dilemma podcast from War on the Rocks and Texas National Security Review
The legacy of 9/11
For America and the Middle East.Itamar Rabinovich reflects on the consequences of two major U.S. mistakes: staying in Afghanistan and invading Iraq. His piece also discusses the boost the 9/11 attacks gave to the jihadi movement.
For the people of the Middle East. In terms of what might have been and what was, the past two decades have been the most costly and tragic in the Middle East's contemporary history, Shadi Hamid writes in Foreign Affairs.
In Mandela's eyes. Former South African President Nelson Mandela's shifts from support for the U.S. response to 9/11 to sharp criticism speak volumes about America's squandering of global goodwill, as Shibley Telhami details.
The Tel Aviv plot. Recently declassified information about a thwarted al-Qaida plot to attack Israel shows that the FBI was getting results from interrogations without using torture as well as the linkages between al-Qaida and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bruce Riedel argues.
International affairs
Japan's prime minister exits. The COVID-19 crisis has now dispatched two Japanese prime ministers in short order, Mireya Solís writes as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga gives up the leadership of his party after one year amidst internal clashes.
Biden's democracy challenge. President Joe Biden will be judged less on how the U.S. fares in global competition between democracies and autocracies like China than on whether his administration can ensure victory for democracy at home at this decisive moment, James Goldgeier argues in an article for the International Security Studies Forum.
A transitional moment in U.S. foreign policy. As Asia becomes the epicenter of America's strategic focus, there are fresh prospects for the United States and Taiwan to bolster mutually beneficial coordination, Ryan Hass says.
Southern Nigeria's vigilante groups.Vanda Felbab-Brown analyzes the formation, effectiveness, behavior, evolution, and anti-crime, security, and political impacts of vigilante groups and militias in southern Nigeria in a United Nations University report.
Thursday, September 16, 2021 8:00 PM - 9:15 PM EDT
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