Dan Snow's History Hit The Rise, Fall and Rise of the Taliban
27 snips
Jan 5, 2026 
Lyse Doucet, a veteran BBC Chief International Correspondent and author, delves into the decades-long trajectory of the Taliban's rise. She reveals how Afghanistan's history has unfolded through the lens of the Intercontinental Hotel, a cultural landmark impacted by shifting power dynamics. Doucet shares gripping accounts from the Soviet invasion, 9/11, and the turbulent periods that followed. She discusses the resurgence of the Taliban and the sobering current reality in Afghanistan, highlighting the critical role of journalism amid human suffering.
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Geography Shapes Afghanistan's Politics
- Afghanistan's geography made it a crossroads and repeated target of empires, shaping local loyalties and fragmentation.
- Mountain ranges and key passes like the Khyber entrenched localism and complicated central control.
Hotel As A Mirror Of Kabul's Golden Age
- The Intercontinental Hotel opened in 1969 as a modern palace symbolizing Kabul's cosmopolitan era.
- Lyse Doucet uses the hotel's rise and decline as a mirror of Afghanistan's political shifts over decades.
Internal Fragmentation Preceded Foreign Intervention
- Internal factionalism and student politics in the 60s–70s created fertile ground for radical coups.
- The Soviet invasion followed when Kabul's communist allies collapsed into violent power struggles.
