Afghanistan: What Now? What Next?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From insurgency to government - the challenges for the Taliban and the West.
Four months ago the Taliban stunned the world - maybe even themselves - when they entered Kabul and took power in Afghanistan. Since then they have had to move from 20 years of fighting to setting up a central government.
That has not proven easy. In the meantime the people of Afghanistan are suffering food shortages and an economic crisis. So what is going on and what might happen next?
Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room:
Secunder Kermani, BBC Pakistan & Afghanistan correspondent
Dr. Mike Martin, visiting fellow in the War Studies department, King's College London.
Laurel Miller, director of the International Crisis Group’s Asia programme.
Ahmed Rashid, journalist and author.
Ashley Jackson, co-director of the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups at the global affairs think tank ODI.
Producers: John Murphy, Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight Studio Manager: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Richard Vadon
Image: Boy in Balkh camp, Afghanistan 13th November 2021. Credit: Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Mel Gerdroich here, I'm just after a moment of your time before you listen to this podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | Now, this Christmas, thousands of people across the UK will be without a safe place to call home. |
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| 0:34.6 | Together we can help bring people a step closer to home. I thank you. Now go on. Enjoy your |
| 0:40.7 | podcast. BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Welcome to the briefing room with me, David |
| 0:49.0 | Aronovich. It's the cyberspace where you, me, the top experts, and 28 minutes converge to understand one of the big |
| 0:56.4 | issues. And this week, four months on, what's happening in Taliban-run Afghanistan? |
| 1:05.3 | Last August, the government of Afghanistan collapsed and the Taliban returned to power. |
| 1:13.1 | What had been a 20-year insurgency has had to morph into a government running a country. So how is that going? And if the |
| 1:20.3 | answer is very badly, what can be done about it? Step inside the briefing room and together we'll find out. |
| 1:31.9 | Let's start with what's going on on the ground. The briefing room's John Murphy spoke to Sukunda Kamani, the BBC's man in Kabul. |
| 1:38.4 | What is the picture on the ground at the moment in Afghanistan? Look, if you walk around, |
| 1:43.4 | the signs of everyday life are inevitably continuing. |
| 1:46.6 | Shops and markets are open. |
| 1:48.0 | There are cars on the street, though it is still quieter than before the Taliban takeover. |
| 1:53.2 | Of course, you see Taliban members wherever you go. |
| 1:55.6 | They're either in Kabul guarding government buildings or just moving through the city. |
| 2:00.6 | Sometimes they're in |
| 2:01.4 | smart, camouflage, colored versions of Afghan traditional clothes. Others are without a uniform, but |
... |
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