Most western governments were, apart from sanctions, preparing to wash their hands of the whole thing. They were absolutely taken by surprise by the way that the russians were not nearly as strong as they expected. The ukranians were much more efficient militarily than they ever thought. And i think what we've seen in you cren is the beginning of the game, even though it's been going on since 20 14.
One year ago the United States decided to withdraw from Afghanistan after two decades in the country. The Taliban, a militant Islamist group that ran most of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, swept to power without much resistance from the Afghan army and captured Kabul on August 15 2021. The debacle left Western governments humiliated and ordinary Afghans afraid. What responsibility do countries like Britain and the United States have for the current crisis? To discuss these issues our host the journalist and broadcaster Manveen Rana is joined by Shabnam Nasimi, Policy Advisor to the U.K Home Office, BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, and Paul Mason, the journalist, writer and film-maker.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices