Photo source: Open Democracy By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront When around a hundred thousand Russian troops were amassed near the Ukrainian border by December 2021, it created a renewal of a protracted civil war that first happened in 2014, in Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Satellite imagery, as per Ukrainian intelligence, showed movements of armour, missile and other heavy weaponry to Donbas separatist forces by Russia. In response, Ukrainian forces, in snow-laden wastelands were seen donning their white uniforms, with many snipers on the prowl. Near the front lines, war-weary soldiers were seen preparing food in makeshift kitchens, and the scenario reflected a newer ver...

Photo source: Guardian By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront The Taliban swept the whole of Afghanistan in less than a week in August 2021. The capture was an ominous one, and the most significant coup d’etat in the region. It all began when a Taliban commander won a fight with Afghan forces in the southwestern border capital of Zaranj. Zaranj’s fate then set a pattern, as Taliban insurgents overrun state defences in a continuous effort. Within a matter of days, other cities such as the key city of Kunduz in the north, Pul-e-Khumri and Ghazni, sitting on the strategic approaches to Kabul fell, too. Then, in the most devastating blow, the second and third largest cities of Kandahar and Herat would also fall to the Taliban. Taliban’s advance in 2021 has also brought stories of horror, including details of reprisals against former government workers, summary executions, beheadings, and kidnappings of girls for forced marriages. There were bodies lying in the prisons, with dogs next to t...

  Photo source: Foreign Policy By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront There is a possibility that Sinn Fein, a political wing of an armed organisation, might become a party to the government in a European Union member state in the future, despite the fact the polls show them popular in only more than a quarter of the Irish public. It calls for a united Ireland and is more than an anti-establishment populist front. The party claims to reimagine itself as having an alternative vision for Irish people on both sides of the border. The people’s mood, despite its rise, is something different. It runs contrary to their unification and nationalist agenda, as per opinion polls done by the University of Liverpool Institute of Irish Studies, and Times Survey. These facts aren’t news for Irish nationalists, either. They, for over a century, have predicted the demise of the absorption of Northern Ireland into the Republic. Unionists are aware of this fact, and it gives them a chance to secure N...

  Photo source: Al Jazeera By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront The protests in the oil-rich Kazakhstan gained momentum in January 2022, when a crumbling old town in western Kazakhstan called Zhanaozen stirred in protests, as security forces killed some workers, who had gone to strike over late paychecks and poor living conditions.   The sudden gas price hike has also been seen as an economic failure to ensure security for its people. However, it still remains a mystery how from a grimy, Soviet-era settlement near the Caspian Sea protests suddenly spread across thousand miles, even turning Almaty, its largest city, into a war zone, littered with dead bodies, burned buildings including the mayor’s office, and incinerated cars. It shocked everyone, including its leader, who fortified Almaty with Russian troops. By ordering to fire without warning, to restore order, government critics have long bridled at government oppression and rampant corruption in the oil-rich nation. Af...

  Photo source: Foreign Policy By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Colonel Mamady Doumbouya became Guinea’s interim president in September 2021 after leading a coup against Alpha Conde. The ex-president had once put faith in the colonel to keep his grip on the turbulent nation-state. But, according to Doumbouya, who mostly keeps a low profile, Conde was a man with two faces. The former French legionnaire believed that the army had little choice but to seize power because of his rampant corruption, disregard for human rights and economic mismanagement. That’s why, he went out on TV, wearing a red beret, sunglasses, and an army fatigue, announcing a takeover. The junta had made plans for a transitional rule, but they did not specify how long will it take the transition to take form. They are also adamant to release Conde, only if he publicly resigns. The military’s frustration in instigating the coup shows that the world had turned a blind eye to Conde’s abuses. That’s why after t...

  Photo source: New York Times By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront When Alexander Lukashenko crushed a nationwide revolt against his fraudulent presidential victory, he had been hampered by sanctions since the summer of 2020 by the United States, and the European Union which were biting hard. In response, Lukashenko began offering a safe passage for Middle Easterners to Europe, first to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and then, often by government bus, to Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. The motive behind his act was to force EU to ease its sanctions against Belarus, by directly threatening an immigration flood tide. In some cases, migrants had even paid five to ten thousand dollars to come to Belarus, reflecting money profiteering by Lukashenko’s regime. However, there were also others, mostly economic migrants, who had come with some minimal expense. The desperation was summed up right by Dexter Fillins in his The New Yorker essay, who wrote: ‘Whatever else Lukashenka’s scheme is...