Afghanistan is tumbling into Taliban hands. “The situation on the ground is the result of two decades of miscalculations and failed policies,” writes P. Michael McKinley, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. “We failed in our approach to counterinsurgency, to Afghan politics, and to ‘nation building.’ We underestimated the resiliency of the Taliban. And we misread the geopolitical realities of the region.”
As the 20-year war reaches a tragic end, read more from Foreign Affairs contributors who explore how Washington and its Afghan allies lost the fight against the Taliban—and what their defeat will mean for the United States, Afghanistan, and the region.
