Post-US withdrawal Afghanistan: Problems and prospects

Abstract

Afghanistan has always been a bone of contention either amongst its local tribes or foreign forces but it has never been fully occupied and controlled either by any particular native tribe or any foreign invader. Foreign invasion of a country often leaves the invaded country in security, social, economic and humanitarian crises after the withdrawal of the invaders. This study was designed to explore the possible causes of US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2020, and the ascendency of Taliban to the government and the political, social, economic and humanitarian impacts of US withdrawal on the people of Afghanistan and the ultimate possible prospects for the Taliban government, the people of the country and international community. Relevant secondary data was collected from research articles in newspapers and was thoroughly analyzed through the Content Analysis Technique. It was found out from the analyses that the US withdrawal posed severe social, political and economic impacts on the people of Afghanistan. It was further found that US withdrawal once again took the country into humanitarian crises including food insecurity, poverty, unemployment, bad law-and-order and brain-drainage, social disharmony, political polarization and economic recession. For this purpose, the researcher has adopted the Regional Security Complex Theory where it proposes that the internal security dynamics and the civil wars along with the social, political and humanitarian crises outburst in the state of Afghanistan. The study also identified a number of potential prospects of Taliban take-over for the people of Afghanistan and the international community if the international players persuade them to observe international obligations and protect human rights and extend political recognition to Taliban government and financial assistance to Afghan government.