Barnett Rubin - Afghanistan: What Everyone Needs to Know

The rapid fall of Kabul in the summer of 2021, following the United States’ withdrawal of its military forces, stunned observers across the world. The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2004 expanded personal freedoms, social development and basic infrastructure in many urban areas. Yet disputed elections and endemic corruption undermined the promise of democracy and the rule of law. And poverty continued to beset the countryside, where counterinsurgency operations caused mounting civilian deaths. Once again, the Taliban rule Afghanistan, denying the rights of girls and women. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans seek refuge abroad. Millions confront a devastating humanitarian crisis.

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the latest regime to fall in a series of wars that have reconfigured the country since the 1970s. These conflicts reflect struggles for recognition, contests of power and the battle of ideas within its complex multiethnic society. But they have been decisively shaped by the ambitions and interventions of neighboring states and imperial rivalries.

What possible futures does Afghanistan face? Is it possible to create a new power-sharing regime that can recognize the rights of its citizens, provide stability and enable development? And what do Canada and the United States, among other countries, owe to its people?

The distinguished political scientist Barnett Rubin, one of the world’s leading scholars of Afghanistan, conflict prevention and statebuilding, explores these questions in conversation with Sanjay Ruparelia, along with Shogofa Sediqi, Mohammad Popal and Rachel Pulfer.