A | “雪龙”号在密集冰区行驶。陈瑜摄考察队员在冰站作业。陈瑜摄 8月7日，中国第16次北冰洋考察队（以下简称“考察队”）“雪龙”号考察队员在北冰洋中央区域（北纬83°50′）完成第12个冰站作业任务。 On a balmy summer day in mid-August of 2021, the 20-year US-led nation-building project in Afghanistan came to an abrupt end. Following a 10-day blitzkrieg offensive in which the Taliban* captured 32 of the country’s 34 provinces with little resistance, the militants encircled and then entered Kabul and caused its government to flee, all while US and coalition forces, diplomats, and intelligence agents were still evacuating.,Afghanistan has been mired in foreign-backed civil conflict for generations, with the US-led invasion of the country in 2001 ensuing 23 years after the CIA kicked off Operation Cyclone - a covert action involving the deployment of jihadist fighters and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and cash to Afghanistan to fight a fledgling Soviet-backed government.,“We have to look at the history – the United States created the Afghan mujahedeen against the Soviet Union, when the Soviet Union came to help Afghanistan…That Islamic fundamentalism which includes Taliban, Mujahideen, ISIS [Daesh]** and others was created by the West,” says Dr. Zalmay Gulzad, a specialist on Afghan politics and professor of social sciences at Harold Washington College in Chicago.,WorldA Tale of Two Withdrawals: Why Soviet and US Pull-Outs From Afghanistan Were So Different18 August 2021, 04:00 GMT,In the mid-1990s, a few years after the end of the Cold War, Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter, boasted that the overarching goal of the US project in Afghanistan was to “make the Soviets bleed for as much and as long as is possible,” and to coordinate with the intelligence services from the UK, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other countries to make this happen.,Over four decades on, this strategy remains central to Washington’s calculations, Dr. Gulzad says, comparing US attempts to now use the Taliban to stir up trouble along Russia’s soft underbelly in Central Asia to the NATO proxy conflict against Moscow in Ukraine. Iran is another major target of US geopolitical ambitions, and Washington would like to play on the differences between the Sunni Taliban and the Shia Iranian state to “create problems” for the Islamic Republic, the academic argues.,Taliban Promise Safety for Resistance Leaders Including Ahmad Massoud as They Meet in Tehran10 January, 13:57 GMT,Graveyard of Empires,Brown University’s Costs of War project has calculated that the War in Afghanistan cost the United States alone more than $2.3 trillion, equivalent to $300 million per day for nearly 20 straight years. Notwithstanding the extravagant spending, and the rotational deployment of over 800,000 US troops and tens of thousands of personnel from over three dozen allied nations over the past generation, the Afghanistan project, once described by Harvard academic and chickenhawk Michael Ignatieff as a “humanitarian” “nation-building lite” adventure, has failed spectacularly.,The causes are legion, ranging from the pervasive corruption of Afghanistan’s political institutions and security structures (whose true fragility was demonstrated in August 2021), to the coalition’s tolerance for and even cooperation with unsavory warlords, drug traffickers, and even child sex criminals, and the imperious nature of the Western-backed project itself.,“It was a lost battle from the beginning,” says Dr. Swasti Rao, an associate fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Center at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.,US 'Lost Track' of Afghan War Aims, Says Retired Marine General12 August, 17:00 GMT,“One of the problems with the US is that it wishes to see the entire world in its own mirror image, what is called the liberal world order comprising of free market and democracy. This approach has a problem when enforced top down without taking account the regional and grassroots realities, cultural sensibilities of the people at hand. The government of Ashraf Ghani was never a popular government with massive charges of corruption that the Afghan people did not identify with,” Rao explains.,The researcher noted that all around the world, but in West Asia in particular, the “project of the liberal order of which the US considers itself a custodian” has met with failure.,“After 20 years, about $2.5 trillion and the lives of its citizens and soldiers, the US realized that retreating is the best possible decision, something they had been planning for a long time,” Rao says.,Challenges, Opportunities,A year on from Kabul’s fall, the situation in Afghanistan is unstable, unpredictable, and dangerous, both for ordinary Afghans and for countries in the region.,“After one year of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover, it is Afghans who are suffering more than any other regional or extra-regional states,” says Shreyas Deshmukh, a researcher with the National Security Program at Delhi Policy Group, an India-based think tank.,“Now it is evident that the Taliban has not given up its extremist tendencies and will continue to stick with its interpretation of the extremist Sharia-based governance model. They do not have any concrete ideas to govern the state because [the Taliban] is a primarily insurgent organization. Therefore, anti-social elements including other terrorist organizations, drug lords, and human traffickers [have been] taking advantage of this vacuum. During the initial months after the Taliban takeover, the level of violence was reduced but now there is an uptick, as anti-Taliban forces are regrouping,” Deshmukh notes.,AfghanistanTaliban Militants Fire Into Air to Disperse Women's Protest in Kabul - Videos13 August, 07:44 GMT,The researcher points to an important dilemma for the Taliban: whether to make concessions on its governance model in exchange for cooperation with, assistance from, and possible recognition from other countries. Such a decision, Deshmukh notes, would carry with it the risk of heightening divisions within the Taliban’s ranks and even raise the possibility of their government’s collapse and renewed civil war. “On the contrary, if they implement a strict interpretation of Sharia law while going against international norms then the country will once again become a haven for terrorist organizations,” he warns.,Dr. Rao concurs with this pessimistic appraisal of Afghanistan’s internal situation, noting that while the Taliban proved capable of taking over from the Western-backed government, “they do not know how to engage in governance per se, let alone [create an] inclusive government with minorities and women. It’s been a year of denial of women’s rights, media crackdown, and retaliatory killings amid mass hunger. Especially with the Taliban bringing back the feared Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, enforcing the group’s austere interpretation of Islam, it is more unlikely that women or minorities might have a say in the government any time in the foreseeable future,” he says.,Worse yet, Rao says, if the situation continues to fester, it will cause “even more unrest, drugs and illegal weapons smuggling, bloody fights between various fundamentalist groups like ISIS-K and the Taliban; in short a situation that will remain a regional security [concern] with uncontrolled global ramifications.”,The scholar emphasizes that the international community has asked the Taliban to form an inclusive government, ensure the rights of women and minorities, and guarantee that Afghanistan will no longer serve as a launch pad for global terror operations. “Unless that happens, the trade or investment promised by China will not flow. It is important to note that even Russia and China, which share a better equation with the Taliban compared to the Western world, have not recognized their government,” Rao believes.,WorldLithium, Gold & Rare Earths: How China May Open the Door to New Business Opportunities for Afghans19 August 2021, 08:38 GMT,At the same time, the researcher notes that although the US withdrawal exacerbated regional chaos, landed sophisticated weapons in Taliban hands, and created a regional power vacuum, it also “created space for countries like Russia, China and Iran to play a far more decisive role in the region,” as Washington shifted its attention to Eastern Europe and China.,Deshmukh concurs. “The Taliban is not a designated terrorist organization by many states including the US. However, its leadership is under UNSC and US sanctions. The real question is, will the countries recognize the Taliban regime in the near future? China, Pakistan, Russia, and Qatar have given some signals that they might recognize the regime. However, it remains a risky business considering that the Taliban is continuing close cooperation with terrorist organizations like AQ, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Many of their leaders have taken safe haven in Afghanistan.”,“No country would like to align itself with this regime and recognize them, for now. Meanwhile, they will continue to engage with the Taliban to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghans, keep a tab on terrorist elements which could threaten the national interest of those countries, and further to reap some economic benefits from Afghanistan,” Deshmukh concludes.,* A group under United Nations sanctions for terrorist activities.,** A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.。这也是此次考察中“雪龙”号的最后一个冰站作业点。考察队副领队、首席科学家何剑锋8月11日表示，此次冰站作业数量创历史新高，通过周密谋划，顺利完成了全部冰面科考物资的运输保障任务，布放各类冰基浮标30余套。 7月3日，考察队员搭乘“雪龙2”号、“雪龙”号从大连起航。
B | “雪龙”号于7月15日通过白令海峡进入北极圈，随后在北冰洋全面开展作业。 在进入北极圈前，“雪龙”号自7月7日起，在航渡中于西北太平洋公海区域布放XCTD（投弃式温盐深测量仪）和抛弃式Argo（地转海洋学实时观测阵）海洋剖面浮标。 XCTD是能快速获取海水温度、电导率（盐度）和深度剖面数据的海洋测量仪器。其核心优势在于可走航测量，具有快捷、操作简便、作业效率高等优点，可一次获取数百米的海洋温盐深剖面数据。
C | Argo浮标是全球海洋观测系统的核心装备。
D | 当它入海后，会按照预设程序自动下潜至目标深度，然后再上浮持续采集温度、盐度和压力（深度）等数据，并在浮出水面完成数据卫星传送后，下潜重复进行剖面观测。 我国自1999年开展北冰洋考察，前10次考察主要集中在太平洋扇区的白令海、楚科奇海和加拿大海盆区，其中第5和第8次考察涵盖了大西洋扇区的北欧海；近5次考察主要集中在楚科奇海台、加拿大海盆和加克洋中脊为主的北冰洋中央区。 据了解，此次是“雪龙”号第10次执行北冰洋考察任务，也是时隔6年再次出征北极。
E | 航渡期间，考察队细化实施方案，开办北极大学“雪龙分校”，举行“雪龙”知识竞赛等活动，增进队员对极地的认知。
F | （记者陈瑜） 【延伸阅读】 为何到茫茫北冰洋建冰站？ 有了“雪龙”号，为什么还要到冰上开展作业？考察队副领队、首席科学家何剑锋告诉记者，北极海冰在气候环境调节中起着重要作用，是历次考察的重点研究对象。
G | 开展冰上作业的目的，一是对海冰以及气-冰-海界面开展精细化观测和采样；二是依托海冰作为平台布放无人值守长期观测装备，以获取连续观测数据。 近年来，不少学者致力于研究北极海冰对我国气候的影响。受后勤保障条件的制约，船基考察主要集中在夏季，意味着考察数据都来自夏天，而北极对全球的影响是全年的。为此，在浮冰上布放无人值守长期连续观测设备，是弥补船基考察不足、获取长期连续数据的重要手段。 按照习惯性叫法，冰站分为两种，其中短期冰站是指持续数小时、以基础环境数据和样品采集为主的冰站；长期冰站是指持续数天、以过程观测和研究为主的冰站。 “雪龙”号海冰队队长屈猛告诉记者，此次设置的12个冰站均为短期冰站。
H | 因为纬度相对较低的楚科奇海台大洋作业区冰情较重（不适合大洋作业），考察队根据实际情况并经综合考虑后将高纬度的冰站作业调整到7月下旬先行开展。考虑到接下来的两个月海冰将进一步融化，为使布放在海冰上的无人观测设备能够撑过夏季融冰期、持续运行更长时间，建站寻找的是更厚的海冰，预设冰站的纬度也相对较高，均在北纬82度以北，与“雪龙”号往年冰站布放位置相比，纬度总体偏高。 冰站作业开始前，考察队会先派人探冰。
I | 这是因为哪怕是在严冬时节，北冰洋的海冰也并非静止不动，而是在风和流的作用下漂移不定，由此形成大大小小的海冰。
J | 本次考察中承担多次探冰任务的周鸿涛告诉记者，开展探冰作业，首先要找到相对平整、有一定厚度的海冰，方便立起三脚架开展仪器设备布放作业；同时，选点附近不能有过多融池和冰裂隙，这样设备的存放时间才能尽量长。
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