Following the withdrawal of the last US troops from Afghanistan, and the Taliban’s recapture of the control, the international community is back to the drawing board. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US-led Western interventions in the greater Middle East have left an ugly legacy of failed states in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan. The recent tragedy of fleeing Afghans falling from the sky at Kabul airport shocked the international community in August 2021. This was just the tip of the iceberg. Afghanis have already been identified as the second-largest group of refugees and asylum seekers after Syrians since 2001. After two decades of war with the Taliban and nation-building failures, the West has lost Afghanistan. What can the international community learn from its failure in Afghanistan?
First published at Center for Religion in Society, York St John University.
Dr Ayla Göl 