Vassily A. Klimentov, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)
The most important lesson from the US withdrawal from Afghanistan may be our failure to learn from history.
A patient is connected to an oxygen tank at the Afghan-Japan Communicable Disease Hospital for COVID-19 patients in Kabul, Afghanistan, in June 2020. Afghan media has reported that COVID-19 patients are dying in government hospitals due to shortages of medical oxygen.
(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Decades of armed conflict in Afghanistan has destroyed health-care infrastructure and the reconstruction efforts have failed to provide accessible healthcare, exacerbating the COVID-19 crisis.
The US, Afghanistan and Taliban are engaged in peace talks to end the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan.
Sayed Mustafa/EPA
A ceasefire and peace agreement in Afghanistan may mean that the Taliban would have to lose their “terrorist” classification and turn from despised outlaws to legitimate powerbrokers.