After the shambolic US withdrawal, Afghanistan faces an existential problem: Its very existence as a state is now in question. Most people forget that Afghanistan is a patchwork of disparate ethnic groups and remote villages. Unlike Germany or Japan, it is not and has never been a nation-state....
The upheaval in Afghanistan was undoubtedly one of the most shocking events of the year. It will likely have fatal consequences for the Afghan people, neighboring countries and the international community. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is so devastating that it is impossible to predict the...
With the Taliban’s recent takeover of Afghanistan, the fate of around 14 million women remains uncertain. From when they ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban were notorious for their mistreatment of women and girls, imposing restrictions on almost all aspects of their lives, from...
Ten provincial capitals in Afghanistan have fallen to the Taliban in just a week, while fighting continues in four more. US military officials now believe that Kabul, the Afghan capital, could fall in one to three months. It is horrific to watch the death, destruction and mass...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Shukria Dellawar, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Afghanistan has experienced difficult days in its modern history. From 1996 to 2001, it was ruled by the totalitarian Taliban regime. The Taliban are a...
The practice of bacha bazi sees powerful men abusing adolescent boys for sexual pleasure. But what happens when these boys grow up? The 20-odd men who had come to the party were expecting a dancing boy, or bacha bereesh. Some were drinking, while others were smoking hashish in open windows,...
The brutal mob attack on a young woman in Kabul reveals the instability of the Afghan government. On March 19, a 27-year-old Afghan woman named Farkhunda was attacked in the center of Kabul in bright daylight, wrongly accused of burning a copy of the Quran. Kabul police initially tried to...
Mes Aynak, one of Afghanistan's most important cultural treasures, may be destroyed by the end of 2015. My documentary, Saving Mes Aynak, which deals with the imminent threat facing the ancient city of Mes Aynak in Afghanistan, will have its premiere at the prestigious Festival International...
To secure freedom for Afghanistan, all aspects of liberal democracy must be respected. Afghanistan has long been politically unstable due to war and the predominance of weak regimes. However, the 9/11 attacks changed the scenario. The US intervention in 2001 that overthrew the Taliban...
