Tag: Taliban

‘We were blackmailed’: Afghanistan’s former vice-president accuses US of forcing deals with the Taliban

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Afghanistan’s former president may have sensationally fled Kabul, but the former vice-president says he will stay and fight the Taliban.  Key points: Former vice-president Amrullah Saleh has declared himself president of Afghanistan after the former president fled the country Mr Saleh says the government was “blackmailed” into dealing with the Taliban by the United States He has gathered with military commanders from the former government in Panjshir Valley Amrullah Saleh spoke to ABC’s PM program from somewhere in the Panjshir Valley, his birthplace and a legendary source of resistance to invasion. Fighters…

Why Nation-Building Failed in Afghanistan

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ISTANBUL – The United States invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago with the hope of rebuilding a country that had become a scourge to the world and its own people. As General Stanley McChrystal explained in the run-up to the 2009 surge of US troops, the objective was that the “government of Afghanistan sufficiently control its territory to support regional stability and prevent its use for international terrorism.” Why Nation-Building Failed in Afghanistan Afghan Presidential Palace via Getty Images Daron Acemoglu explains why the West’s top-down approach to establishing state institutions…

How the U.S. Exit from Afghanistan Helps China

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Beijing is now also positioned to hold greater influence over the country’s political landscape. Afghanistan’s history tells us that one group is rarely in control of the entire country, and given the Taliban’s lightning takeover, it’s reasonable to expect some civil strife. China — already the largest troop contributor to U.N. peacekeeping missions among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — has also registered a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops — a move that could make it one of the largest contributors overall. If a…

The U.S. Has Left Afghanistan. Will China Move In?

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This article will also appear in the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning. The stunning seizure of Afghanistan by the Taliban poses many significant geopolitical questions — chief among them who will fill the vacuum left by the withdrawal of the United States and its NATO allies from the country after 20 years. The Taliban are on a P.R. offensive to try to show that they are a legitimate representative governing power that wants to have good relations with…

Why China’s rise is a ‘wildcard’ for how things could play out in Afghanistan

Chin@Strategy

While several countries are evacuating their embassies in Kabul and scrambling to get their citizens out of Afghanistan, there are three notable exceptions.  Australia closed its embassy back in May, but China, Russia and Pakistan are staying put for now. Afghanistan has geographical significance, positioned as a bridge between Asia and Europe, and all three countries have an interest in regional stability and want to avoid the country becoming a hotbed of extremism. Afghanistan is also sitting on to $US1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) worth of mineral deposits, including rare earths and…

China’s 47-mile-long problem with the Taliban

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Press play to listen to this article Afghanistan looms larger in the mindset of China’s leadership than you’d imagine from the countries’ mere 47-mile stretch of shared border — a curly line that you’ll easily miss if Google Maps is not sufficiently zoomed in. While China has enjoyed poking its archrival the U.S. in the eye over its humiliation in Afghanistan — with state media even gleefully warning Taiwan that America will similarly desert its friends in Taipei — Beijing also has deep fears about the security risks posed by…

China will tread carefully in navigating the Taliban’s return

Chin@Strategy

The US’s hasty departure from Afghanistan has provided much material for China’s propaganda agencies to discredit Washington’s foreign policy. But Beijing is also treading a careful line in navigating an increasingly uncertain security situation in one of its most volatile neighbours. On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said that while Beijing will “continue developing good-neighbourly, friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan”, it also urges the Taliban to “ensure that all kinds of terrorism and crimes can be curbed so that the Afghan people can stay away from war…