The end of an era: What next for Afghanistan? 🔊

Since the United States formally began withdrawing from Afghanistan, the nation has witnessed an incredibly rapid deterioration of the government’s position. The President fled the country, and the Taliban are poised to control the nation upon the completion of the U.S. withdrawal. Why did the government fall so quickly? What are the implications of the return of the Taliban to power? Doug Becker speaks with Thomas H. Johnson, Amin Tarzi, Robert Crews, and Steve Swerdlow.

Thomas H. Johnson is a Research Professor in the National Security Affairs Department at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is an expert on Afghanistan and is the author of Taliban Narratives: The Use and Power of Stories in the Afghanistan Conflict.

Amin Tarzi is the Director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University. He is an expert in Middle East politics and is the co-author of The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan.

Robert Crews is a Professor of History at Stanford University. He is an expert on Afghanistan and is the author of Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation.

Steve Swerdlow is an Associate Professor of Human Rights at the University of Southern California. He is an expert in human rights law.

Podcast:

This interview originally aired on the Scholars’ Circle. To access our archive of episodes and download this interview, click here.

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Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this discussion reflect the views of the guests and not necessarily the views of The Big Q. 

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