“It is widely believed that the government has failed because of mounting pressure from the Islamist-Jihadist alliance operating behind the scenes. The jihadists have become an important political player. It is well known that former Al-Qaeda members and Libya’s Islamic Fighting Group are now members of the General National Council. They effectively control some cities in Easter Libya, particularly Derna, and parts of Benghazi”, – independent Libyan academic, journalist, Mustafa Fetouri.

“Priorities in international relations have changed. We need to abandon ideological and other superstitions and instincts, as well as intellectual inertia of the past. Rational policy, state pragmatism and creative approaches to conflict resolution are in demand. Bloc and hierarchical structures are being substituted with multilateral and network diplomacy, which implies various and probably cross-cutting forms of interaction between states to meet common challenges,” – writes the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in his article for the Security Index journal.

“It doesn’t matter who will become the new Afghan president: corruption, drug production, and the influence of the Taliban will remain at the same level as they were under Hamid Karzai. Withdrawal of US troops from the country will allow the Taliban under the patronage of Pakistan to strengthen significantly it control over Pashtun territories. Iranian influence will prevail in Hazara regions. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will have a say among Uzbeks and Turkmens in the border areas in the north”, – President of the Institute of Middle East Studies Evgeny Satanovsky.