Continuano le esercitazioni delle forze armate cinesi, che stamattina hanno superato la linea mediana tra la Cina e l’isola. Gli USA: “Reazione provocatoria”.
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.
Ieri sono iniziate le esercitazioni militari cinesi al largo di Taiwan, a seguito della visita di Nancy Pelosi che la notte tra il 2 e il 3 agosto ha incontrato la presidente di Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen, scatenando l'ira della Cina. Per capire cos'è successo finora e cosa succederà adesso Francesco Rocchetti, Segreterio Generale ISPI, e Silvia Boccardi, giornalista, parlano con Alessia Amighini, esperta di Cina, Professoressa associata all’Università del Piemonte Orientale e Co-responsabile del programma Asia dell'ISPI.
Il parlamento srilankese elegge il premier Ranil Wickremesinghe a presidente. Una nomina che rischia di fomentare la rabbia dei manifestanti che da giorni chiedono le sue dimissioni.
Shinzo Abe, uno dei grandi riformatori del Giappone contemporaneo, è morto oggi dopo un attentato mentre si trovava nella prefettura di Nara per un comizio elettorale in vista del voto di domenica, in cui si eleggeranno i rappresentanti della camera alta. Abe, dimessosi dal ruolo di primo ministro nel settembre del 2020 per una grave complicazione medica, era rimasto una delle figure politiche più influenti del paese.
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.
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.