Francesco Rocchetti, segretario generale ISPI, e Silvia Boccardi, giornalista di Will, fanno il punto sulla gravissima crisi economica e umanitaria in corso in Afghanistan, a un anno dalla presa del potere dei Talebani, con Giuliano Battiston, giornalista freelance e contributor dell’ISPI.
On August 15th, 2021, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, the Taliban swept into Kabul, and the Islamic Republic’s institutions collapsed. A few weeks later, on September 7th, the Taliban announced an interim government and the re-estalishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
On August 15th, 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden announced the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban swept into Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, and the institutions of the Islamic Republic collapsed. The 20-year Western involvement in Afghanistan had suddenly come to an end: only a few weeks later, the Taliban announced the reestablishment of an Islamic Emirate.
One year after the Taliban’s takeover, politics and diplomacy are of the utmost importance to deal with developments in Afghanistan, which stand in striking contrast to the expectations of a large part of the international community in the aftermath of August 15th, 2021.
Together with the morale and logistical collapse of the Afghan military caused by the US withdrawal from the country, the political leadership’s breakdown and ultimate flight precipitated the crisis and allowed the Taliban a swift and unopposed entry into Kabul in August 2021.
Washington’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 created a problem for China on the border of one of its most volatile regions in Xinjiang. While Beijing was not always entirely enthusiastic about a US military presence on its border, it could see the benefits of having someone else take on the security burden. It even went so far as to cooperate with the United States in Afghanistan – something which stood in stark contrast to the rest of its relationship with the US.
Shortly after the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year, the longest war in US history almost immediately vanished from international public debate. For a few weeks, between late August and early September 2021, news and images of the Taliban’s control of Kabul made the headlines, sparking indignation across many Western countries. Nevertheless, by late September, both the long war and the situation on the ground started to attract less and less attention.
Western states and the UN aid system reacted to the Taliban assumption of power in August 2021 essentially the same way they did in 1996-2001 when Taliban first ruled from Kabul. There was no recognition, a battery of sanctions were imposed, funds held by the Afghan state overseas were frozen, and no humanitarian assistance or other aid funds were channeled through the Taliban controlled state.
August 15, 2021 has been marked as a significant date in the recent history of Afghanistan. A year has passed since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan for the second time. A year has passed since those days when the world’s attention was focused on the mass evacuations of Afghans through the Kabul airport, with dramatic scenes only comparable to movies. A year has passed since the departure of the international forces from Afghanistan after 20 years.
One year after the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban, it is time for a first assessment of how the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has performed so far. It is worth pointing out that it has not imploded yet, despite the dire economic situation. The Taliban are able to raise about $2 billion per year in customs and taxes, keeping the state more or less afloat. The lack of resources has nonetheless ensured that intra-Taliban tensions have remained high over the past twelve months.
L’uccisione di Ayman al Zawahiri, numero uno di al-Qaida, raggiunto da missili Usa nel centro di Kabul riapre i nodi del rapporto tra Washington e i Talebani.
L'ordine di indossare se non il burqa almeno qualcosa che copra capelli, corpo e parte del viso, si aggiunge a una serie di gravi restrizioni che limitano quasi ogni aspetto della vita pubblica delle donne. Ma il regime talebano sta causando anche altri danni, tra cui insicurezza alimentare e una crisi economica gravissima.