The war in Afghanistan is over, but the commentary on what it was all about and where it leaves us is just beginning. The events that have unfolded over the past few weeks have predictably generated a plethora of credible and less credible theses that continue to appear in every serious publication covering the news.
As the autopsy of an entire epoch is being conducted by the experts, the official postmortem of a 20-year episode of global history will not be complete until its immediate consequences have played out. Who will rule Afghanistan and under what conditions? Will the victors — the Taliban — take the spoils or see them taken away by a clever enemy or ally? Will the end of a war signify peace or simply a different kind of war? In the midst of competing global crises — a pandemic, climate catastrophe, geopolitical upheaval and the decline of an empire — what new equilibrium, if any, might emerge? How will Asia now be redefined?
The US Ignored Afghan Corruption for 20 Years (fairobserver.com)
