21/09/2021
How do you deal with the Taliban? With West still reeling from militants’ victory in Afghanistan, Russia & China are taking charge
By Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian at Koc University in Istanbul working on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory. He tweets under .When history speeds up, it plays havoc with our sense of time. It may seem longer, but it has only been around a month since the world was shaken by a geopolitical earthquake, with its epicenter in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
The lasting effects of the Taliban’s rapid re-conquest of Afghanistan, ending with their seizure of the city in the middle of August, are still unfolding. What comes next for the country, and for its place in the world, is still to be decided.
One piece of wishful thinking already debunked by the facts is the idea that, after 20 years of war, the Taliban 2.0 is more liberal and less inclined to brutality than it was when its predecessors ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. Cunningly, the group has tried to foster this illusion of moderation. Yet the militants’ actions speak louder than words. In reality, they have installed a government that reveals the lie behind their promises of inclusivity.
The new cabinet is made up of Taliban fighters, entirely male, and has almost no members from the country’s many ethnic minorities. It also features leading cadres of the especially brutal Haqqani network. With about half of its members on UN sanctions lists, the new government may still be officially an interim administration, but let’s not be naïve about its position. It is as if Afghanistan’s incoming rulers have hung out a large sign, saying in big, bold letters: “WE won the war, and we don’t give a damn what the losers think.”
By Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian at Koc University in Istanbul working on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural
