Drones / drone warfare

Taliban Afghanistan 2 years on

Report from a forgotten land

15 August 2023 marked the second anniversary of the Taliban's return to Afghanistan. Emran Feroz recently travelled through the country – here is his exclusive report for Qantara.de on everyday life in Kabul
Resurgence of Pakistan's Taliban

Terror returns with the TTP

When the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan just under two years ago, analysts warned that their return would also mean a return of the threat posed to neighbouring Pakistan by offshoot Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). By Mohammad Luqman
Ukraine war

The deep desire to declare a state of emergency

Russia's attack on Ukraine took Germany by surprise. The "end of an era" has shifted the political focus to the military, bringing back stale memories of the Western response to the attacks of 9/11. Essay by Stefan Buchen
Arms to Ukraine

How useful are Turkish-made drones fighting in Ukraine?

Propaganda videos boasting of the successes of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones in the Ukraine war are popular on social media. Elmas Topcu asks what role these drones are really playing in the conflict
Turkey-Africa summit

Erdogan scores "Made in Turkey" points

Ankara staged its third Turkey-Africa summit on 17 December, a sign of growing economic partnership under President Erdogan. Military co-operation is also a hot topic. Martina Schwikowski, Daniel Bellut and Pelin Unker have the details
The Longest War – 20 years of the "War on Terror"

Afghanistan: Emran Feroz' chronology of a disaster

The "War on Terror" has not only failed in Afghanistan, it has exacerbated insecurity and generated more terrorism. This is the main thrust of journalist Emran Feroz in his book, which was published, appropriately enough, 20 years after the attacks of 11 September 2001 and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan by the USA and NATO. Behnam Said read the book for Qantara.de
"Female Voice of Afghanistan" streaming festival

Afghan women raise their voices against trauma

The streaming festival "Female Voice of Afghanistan" by the Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin gives Afghan female musicians a global platform – at a time when their situation has worsened dramatically. Stefan Franzen reports for Qantara.de
Afghanistan

Victim-blaming – a trope of the West's failure in Afghanistan

One prominent narrative relating to the defeat of the western-led military intervention in Afghanistan is that it was a mistake to try to build a modern democracy in a society steeped in "mediaeval traditions" and "tribal attitudes". Hans Dembowski condemns this self-serving and condescending standpoint, which persists in ignoring the serious flaws in the West's engagement, while blaming the victims for its failure
Western withdrawal from Afghanistan

The symbolic importance of the U.S. defeat

Caught up in discussions on the future of local Afghan forces and new Islamist threats, people are failing to grasp the historic scale of the debacle, argues Stefan Buchen in his essay
The West's failure in Afghanistan

Authors of 'War on Terror' in denial to the bitter end

How could the Afghan government and its institutions collapse so quickly? That things were going wrong in Afghanistan had been obvious for a long time, yet the West preferred to look the other way, writes Emran Feroz
Taliban in the ascendant

Joe Biden and America’s withdrawal of choice

The swift fall of Kabul recalls the ignominious fall of Saigon in 1975. Beyond the local consequences – widespread reprisals, harsh repression of women and girls, and massive refugee flows – America’s strategic and moral failure in Afghanistan will reinforce questions about U.S. reliability among friends and foes alike. By Richard Haass
U.S. and NATO withdraw from "the forever war"

What we should all know about Afghanistan

United States and NATO troops are leaving Afghanistan after 20 years, despite the fact that the Taliban is still advancing. The German Bundeswehr is already out. Sandra Petersmann examines the key issues