Dr. Sohail Mahmood – 12 September 2021 On August 30, the war in Afghanistan ended. America had managed to evacuate some 123,000 civilians from Kabul, including 6,000 Americans. The twenty-year war had a high cost. Some 2,461 US soldiers and civilians were killed. On August 26 a terrorist bombing killed 13 soldiers in Kabul. President Biden on August 31, 2021…
Stefanie Babst, Internationale Politik Quarterly – 2 September 2021 “The Western allies need to review what went wrong in Afghanistan with a genuine sense of humility. Otherwise they are bound to repeat the same mistakes in the future”. This article on Internationale Politik Quarterly looks at four hard questions for NATO after the fall of…
Shadi Hamid, The Atlantic – 23 August 2021 America’s nation-building fantasies painted over the realities of a failed state and created an insurmountable barrier between Afghan citizens and the US military, according to this article on The Atlantic. Instead, the Taliban made their return through grass-root dispute resolutions. Read the full article here.
The Conversation Weekly Podcast – 26 August 2021 In this podcast episode, The Conversation talks to two Afghanistan experts about the Taliban’s history and the events in the past two decades that have lead to their resurgence and the takeover of Kabul. Listen to the podcast here.
William Dalrymple, UnHerd – 30 August 2021 The correlation between the First and Fourth Anglo-Afghan War is substantive and a grasp of history dating back to the first war from 1939-42 would have, according to this article, prevented a disastrous war and avoided another military humiliation for the West. Read the full article here.
Simon Jenkins, The Guardian – 20 August 2021 As Kabul falls to the complete power of the Taliban, serious questions are being asked around the world of the west’s moral authority and intentions after 9/11. This article on The Guardian argues “if they [western regimes] crave moral outreach, it should be through the imperialism of…
Anatol Lieven, Prospect – 27 August 2021 Anatol Lieven recounts his NATO-organised trip to Camp Shorabak, an Afghan military base, in 2013 where he first realised that the West’s Afghanistan campaign was doomed. Speaking of military support in Africa, the author also states that “any chance of success depends on Britain and Europe learning the…
Tessa Wong and Zhaoyin Feng, BBC News – 24 August 2021 The responses from Asian countries after the fall of Kabul have been overwhelmingly in scepticism of the U.S.’ intentions and trustworthiness in the region. Whilst Singapore warned that they were watching the country’s next moves in response to the situation, China has stepped up…
Simon Tisdall, The Guardian – 21 August 2021 According to this article on The Guardian, Joe Biden has “undermined the western alliance” with his “undeserved contempt for Afghan forces and obliviousness to the sacrifices of Nato allies”. The author argues a need for a more balanced and respectful security relationship between the US and Europe…
