{"id":66492,"date":"2021-08-18T11:04:17","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T01:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=66492"},"modified":"2021-08-18T13:13:12","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T03:13:12","slug":"pax-americana-died-in-kabul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/","title":{"rendered":"Pax Americana died in Kabul"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The terrorist takeover of Afghanistan, following US President Joe Biden\u2019s precipitous and bungling military exit, has brought an ignoble end to America\u2019s longest war. This is a watershed moment that will be remembered for formalising the end of the long-fraying Pax Americana and bringing down the curtain on the West\u2019s long ascendancy.<\/p>\n

At a time when its global pre-eminence was already being severely challenged by China, the United States may never recover from the blow this strategic and humanitarian disaster delivers to its international credibility and standing. The message it delivers to US allies is that they count on America\u2019s support when they most need it at their own peril.<\/p>\n

After all, the Afghanistan catastrophe unfolded after the US threw its ally \u2014the Afghan government \u2014under the bus and got into bed with the world\u2019s deadliest terrorists<\/a>, the Taliban. President Donald Trump first struck a Faustian bargain with them and then the Biden administration rushed to execute the military exit dictated by the deal, even though the Taliban had been openly violating the agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The dramatic collapse of the Afghan defences and then the government was directly linked to the US betrayal. Biden admits<\/a> Trump \u2018drew US forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500\u2019. By refusing to retain that small military footprint and by ordering a rapid exit at the onset of the annual fighting season, Biden pulled the rug out from under the Afghan military\u2019s feet, thus facilitating the Taliban\u2019s sweep.<\/p>\n

The US had trained and equipped the Afghan forces not to play an independent role but to rely on American and NATO capabilities for a host of battlefield imperatives \u2014from close air support, including drones for situational awareness, to keeping US-supplied weapon systems operational. Biden\u2019s calamitous troop pull-out without a transition plan to sustain the Afghans\u2019 combat capabilities unleashed a domino effect, with 8,500 NATO forces and some 18,000 US military contractors also withdrawing and leaving the Afghan military in the lurch.<\/p>\n

As former CIA director general David Petraeus has explained<\/a>, ever since US combat operations in Afghanistan ended on 1 January 2015, Afghan soldiers had been bravely \u2018fighting and dying for their country\u2019 until the US suddenly ditched them, mortally compromising Afghan defences. This assessment is reinforced by the number of military deaths: since the US combat role ended more than six and a half years ago, Afghan security forces lost tens of thousands<\/a> of soldiers, while the Americans suffered just 99 fatalities<\/a>, many in non-hostile incidents.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time the US has dumped its allies\u2014or even the first time in recent memory. In late 2019, the US abruptly abandoned its Kurdish allies in northern Syria, leaving them at the mercy<\/a> of a Turkish offensive.<\/p>\n

But in Afghanistan, the US sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. Its self-inflicted defeat and humiliation have resulted from a failure of political, not military, leadership. Biden, ignoring conditions on the ground, overruled<\/a> his top generals in April and ordered all US troops to return home. Now, two decades of American war in Afghanistan have culminated with the enemy riding triumphantly back to power.<\/p>\n

Whereas 58,220 Americans<\/a> (largely draftees) were killed in the Vietnam War, 2,448 US soldiers<\/a> (all volunteers) died over the course of 20 years in Afghanistan. Yet, the geopolitical implications of the US defeat in Afghanistan are much more significant globally than the American defeat in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

The Pakistan-reared Taliban may not have a global mission, but their militaristic theology of violent Islamism makes them a critical link in an international jihadist movement<\/a> that whips hostility towards non-Sunni Muslims into nihilistic rage against modernity. The Taliban\u2019s recapture of power will energise and embolden other violent groups in this movement, helping to deliver the rebirth<\/a> of global terror.<\/p>\n

In the Taliban\u2019s emirate, al-Qaeda, remnants of the Islamic State and Pakistani terrorist groups are all likely to find sanctuary<\/a>. According to a recent United Nations Security Council report<\/a>, \u2018the Taliban and al-Qaida remain closely aligned\u2019 and cooperate through the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network, a front<\/a> for Pakistani intelligence.<\/p>\n

The unravelling of the effort to build a democratic, secular Afghanistan will pose a far greater threat to the free world than Syria\u2019s meltdown, which triggered a huge flow of refugees to Europe and allowed IS to declare a caliphate and extend it into Iraq. The Taliban\u2019s absolute power in Afghanistan will sooner or later threaten US security interests at home and abroad.<\/p>\n

By contrast, China\u2019s interests will be aided by the Taliban\u2019s defeat of the world\u2019s most powerful military. The exit of a vanquished America creates greater space for China\u2019s coercion and expansionism, including against Taiwan<\/a>, while underscoring the irreversible decline of US power.<\/p>\n

An opportunistic China is certain to exploit<\/a> the new opening to make strategic inroads into mineral-rich Afghanistan and deepen its penetration of Pakistan, Iran and Central Asia. To co-opt the Taliban, with which it has maintained longstanding ties<\/a>, China has already dangled the prospect of providing the two things<\/a> the militia needs to govern Afghanistan: diplomatic recognition and much-needed infrastructure and economic assistance.<\/p>\n

The reconstitution of a medieval, ultra-conservative, jihad-extolling emirate in Afghanistan will be a monument to US perfidy. And the images of Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters transporting Americans from the US embassy compound in Kabul, recalling the frenzied evacuation from Saigon in 1975, will serve as a testament to America\u2019s loss of credibility\u2014and the world\u2019s loss of Pax Americana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The terrorist takeover of Afghanistan, following US President Joe Biden\u2019s precipitous and bungling military exit, has brought an ignoble end to America\u2019s longest war. This is a watershed moment that will be remembered for formalising …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":482,"featured_media":66494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,1088,31],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPax Americana died in Kabul | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pax Americana died in Kabul | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The terrorist takeover of Afghanistan, following US President Joe Biden\u2019s precipitous and bungling military exit, has brought an ignoble end to America\u2019s longest war. This is a watershed moment that will be remembered for formalising ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-18T01:04:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-18T03:13:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234717476.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"689\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brahma Chellaney\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brahma Chellaney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234717476.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234717476.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":689,\"caption\":\"TOPSHOT - The casket of a US soldier is seen through a doorway during a full military honors burial ceremony next to Section 60, the section of Arlington National Cemetery reserved for those killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, on August 16, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. - Allies and critics alike condemned the United States over the botched end to its 20-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan, with a leading German politician slamming the pullout as \\\"the biggest debacle\\\" in the alliance's history. Stunned by the Taliban's lightning advance across the country after the departure of Western troops, NATO allies have been left scrambling to evacuate their nationals as well as vulnerable Afghans. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY \/ AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY\/AFP via Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/\",\"name\":\"Pax Americana died in Kabul | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-18T01:04:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-18T03:13:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/de93656772fd3940ede5d6ca24b86124\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pax Americana died in Kabul\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/de93656772fd3940ede5d6ca24b86124\",\"name\":\"Brahma Chellaney\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd617a464df31dc4b7d841dc248c299d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd617a464df31dc4b7d841dc248c299d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brahma Chellaney\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/brahma-chellaney\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pax Americana died in Kabul | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pax Americana died in Kabul | The Strategist","og_description":"The terrorist takeover of Afghanistan, following US President Joe Biden\u2019s precipitous and bungling military exit, has brought an ignoble end to America\u2019s longest war. This is a watershed moment that will be remembered for formalising ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2021-08-18T01:04:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-18T03:13:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":689,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234717476.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brahma Chellaney","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brahma Chellaney","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234717476.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234717476.jpg","width":1024,"height":689,"caption":"TOPSHOT - The casket of a US soldier is seen through a doorway during a full military honors burial ceremony next to Section 60, the section of Arlington National Cemetery reserved for those killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, on August 16, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. - Allies and critics alike condemned the United States over the botched end to its 20-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan, with a leading German politician slamming the pullout as \"the biggest debacle\" in the alliance's history. Stunned by the Taliban's lightning advance across the country after the departure of Western troops, NATO allies have been left scrambling to evacuate their nationals as well as vulnerable Afghans. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY \/ AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY\/AFP via Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/","name":"Pax Americana died in Kabul | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-08-18T01:04:17+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-18T03:13:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/de93656772fd3940ede5d6ca24b86124"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pax-americana-died-in-kabul\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pax Americana died in Kabul"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/de93656772fd3940ede5d6ca24b86124","name":"Brahma Chellaney","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd617a464df31dc4b7d841dc248c299d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd617a464df31dc4b7d841dc248c299d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brahma Chellaney"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/brahma-chellaney\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66492"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66514,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66492\/revisions\/66514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}