With the US withdrawal emboldening the Taliban and casting doubt on the Kabul government’s ability to stay in power, the group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen says it welcomes Chinese investments in reconstruction and would guarantee the safety of investors and workers.
Terrorist organizations like the Taliban or ISIS gain popularity because they provide better material conditions in an increasingly destabilized region. Sure they let you fight America, but they also give you food, shelter, security, and anything else that America blew up. If the material conditions of Afghanistan can be improved, the Taliban can lose popularity even if they are the dominant political organization, because outside of these necessities, they don’t actually provide a lot.
This materialist analysis flies in the face of the neoconservative thought that has dominated American foreign policy for decades, which assumes that liberal democracy, being so pure, is the inherent basis of all societies. This meant America could destroy whoever they wanted, because it was simply a given that true freedom loving liberal democracy would rise from the ashes. Of course, to the cynics among us, this is just :cope: that legitimizes imperialism.
Terrorist organizations like the Taliban or ISIS gain popularity because they provide better material conditions in an increasingly destabilized region. Sure they let you fight America, but they also give you food, shelter, security, and anything else that America blew up. If the material conditions of Afghanistan can be improved, the Taliban can lose popularity even if they are the dominant political organization, because outside of these necessities, they don’t actually provide a lot.
This materialist analysis flies in the face of the neoconservative thought that has dominated American foreign policy for decades, which assumes that liberal democracy, being so pure, is the inherent basis of all societies. This meant America could destroy whoever they wanted, because it was simply a given that true freedom loving liberal democracy would rise from the ashes. Of course, to the cynics among us, this is just :cope: that legitimizes imperialism.