The Price of Peace in Afghanistan by Mads Nissen

The chaotic withdrawal of the US and allied forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 spelled the end of a hugely expensive and ultimately futile 20-year-long attempt at nation building following the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Having sustained a low-level insurgency across the country for two decades, the Taliban forces who were once in charge of Kabul were quickly deprived of the two main sources of government income: foreign aid and billions of dollars of government reserves deposited abroad that were promptly frozen. Since then, the already fragile economy, which was reliant on foreign aid to cover three quarters of its budget, has largely collapsed. Now, half of the country’s 40 million people don’t have enough to eat and more than one million children are severely malnourished and at risk of starvation.