Book excerpt: Survival, the IISS’s bimonthly journal, challenges conventional wisdom and brings fresh, often controversial, perspectives on strategic issues of the moment. In this issue: Anatol Lieven argues that the Taliban will remain the most powerful military and political force among the Pashtuns of Afghanistan Lanxin Xiang contends that, following what he describes as Donald Trump’s racist China policy, the Biden administration must avoid casting China as an alien threat Dani Filc and Sharon Pardo assess that right-wing populists in Israel and Europe have become ideological allies, harnessing ethnic nationalism against global Islam Alex J. Bellamy and Charles T. Hunt analyse the intricacies of the use of force to protect civilians in UN peacekeeping missions And seven more thought-provoking pieces, as well as our regular Book Reviews and Noteworthy column. Editor: Dr Dana Allin Managing Editor: Jonathan Stevenson Associate Editor: Carolyn West Assistant Editor: Jessica Watson