If the last 18 months have given anything to the global community, it is a lesson in helplessness. The recent development in Afghanistan is just another instance wherein people are left in a helpless situation. The recent withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan has seen the Taliban capture power in Afghanistan. This change in regime been anything but non-violent and at this moment it is impossible to predict the geo political impact. For the citizens of Afghanistan the future looks bleak to say the least. Whilst the Taliban have stated that they will respect developments that have taken place in Afghanistan in recent years in relation to civil rights and women empowerment, their actions during their last regime and actions over the past few days suggest otherwise. This regime change has led to the displacement of innocent people who are now unsure of their future. Given the extremist tendencies inherent within the Taliban many have or are trying to leave Afghanistan. At this moment, the situation in Afghanistan is nothing less than a tragedy, the consequences of which will be felt majorly by the people of Afghanistan.
To many it may appear that the sudden withdrawal of the US military led to the creation of a power vacuum in Afghanistan and allowed the Taliban to recapture power but for the citizens of Afghanistan, this tragedy is just an additional chapter in their long and tragic history. The country of Afghanistan, like many other low income third world countries, is a victim of global politics, cold war politics to be more precise. In an era wherein the global community was mainly divided into two opposing ideological blocks, newly independent countries like Afghanistan had to choose a side to ensure their own survival. In this bipolar world countries like Afghanistan became mere geo political instruments that the two dominant blocks could use in a global show of strength. The ability of either of the two blocks to control the action of weaker countries like Afghanistan was essential as it allowed them to claim superiority of their ideology over the other. During this phase of international politics the demands and the voices of reason and liberation were routinely ignored and suppressed. Rather countries like Afghanistan became blood soaked theatres of the cold war.
The collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1991 may have promised a new phase in global politics but even in the post cold war era countries like Afghanistan continued to struggle. The countries that fought proxy wars on their soil to achieve global hegemony left once that war was over and left virtually nothing behind with which the population could rebuild. Afghanistan’s geo political location has mattered more to the global powers than the actual people that inhabit it. Afghans have been the victims of the lopsided global system wherein power and might have continued to block the demands for humanity and reason.
