Virtual Event | US Withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s Return, One Year Later

One year after the withdrawal of American and allied forces from Afghanistan, the country faces multiple crises while the world’s attention has moved on. After the Taliban returned to power, women and girls lost their basic rights, ethnic and religious minorities lost their lives, and the economy collapsed. The United States found and recently eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul, indicating that ties between international terrorist groups and the Taliban endure and that the Taliban is unwilling to abide by the Doha Accords. Having withdrawn from Afghanistan, the US must now deal with the continued terrorist threat there and confront the consequences of Taliban rule.

On the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, please join a Hudson Institute panel with Ambassador Javid Ahmad, former ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Arab Emirates and non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council; Matin Bek, former chief of staff to former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani; and Bill Roggio, senior fellow and editor of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal. Hudson Senior Fellow and former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani will moderate the discussion.