This summer, U.S. troops withdrew after twenty years in Afghanistan. What was left was a mess. What humanitarian and geopolitical lessons can we learn?
With the Taliban's seizure of power, a new world order announced itself. An order in which the U.S. is no longer the international policeman, in which China claims its own role, and in which Europe must start to show its colors. Will there be anything left of human rights in the new world of 21st century 'Realpolitik'? Do we have to start negotiating with the Taliban? And what difficult choices will Europe have to make to stay afloat in the new geopolitical arena?
Twenty years after Operation Enduring Freedom began, the United States decided this summer that it had gone on long enough. The mission, which was supposed to make Afghanistan a safe and free country, had failed. Al Qaida and the Taliban proved impossible to defeat, exporting democracy proved more difficult than hoped. The decades of effort by Western allies in the country, the 240,000 deaths, the 2,000 billion American dollars: it was all virtually in vain.
VPRO Documentary looks at the shameful present, the difficult past and the uncertain future with former Commander of the Armed Forces 2005-2008 Dick Berlijn, Afghan women's rights activist Mahbouba Seraj, Jonathan Powell, (peace mediator and former Chief of Staff to Tony Blair from 1997-2007) and Kishore Mahbubani (former diplomat and UN ambassador to Singapore and author of 'Has China Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy', 2020).
Directed by Shuchen Tan and Kees Brouwer
Research: William de Bruijn and Keshia Hederman
Production: Koos van de Merbel
Editing: Remi van der Heiden
Final editing: Doke Romeijn and Geert Rozinga
Originally broadcasted in November, 2021
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