Europe reacts to Afghanistan's collapse

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.4 • 202 Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2021

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the Taliban consolidate their hold over Afghanistan, we have reaction from around Europe to the U.S. decision to pull out and debate the policy implications for NATO and the transatlantic alliance. POLITICO's Chief Europe Correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig is joined by Lili Bayer in Brussels, Annabelle Dickson in the U.K. and Saim Saeed, our regional expert, to discuss how Afghanistan's unraveling has been handled by European allies. Matt then speaks to Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, about how this crisis came to pass — and debate the impact on NATO and Europe's relationship with the Biden administration. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the U.S. ambassador to NATO under Donald Trump, is also a guest on the show. She spoke with POLITICO's Sarah Wheaton and David M. Herszenhorn late last week as the Taliban's rapid advance across the country was in full swing. The long-time U.S. senator discusses how she believes President Trump would have handled the situation and America's position on China and its influence on allied members. Matt also gives us a brief update on where things stand in the final stages of campaigning as Germans gear up for their big election on September 26. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I stand squarely behind my decision.
0:07.0	After 20 years, I've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S.
0:15.0	forces.
0:17.0	Welcome to EU Confidential.
0:19.0	I'm Matt Karnichnich, Politico's chief Europe correspondent,
0:21.6	filling in for Andrew Gray, who was off this week. And what a week it has been, dominated by
0:27.1	the extraordinary scenes coming out of Afghanistan as American and allied forces scrambled
0:33.0	to evacuate military, staff, and civilians as the Taliban swept into power. In this episode, we'll
0:40.1	debate what went wrong and what the implications are for NATO, for Europe, and the Transatlantic
0:46.3	Alliance at large. You'll hear from regional expert Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group,
0:52.5	and from America's most recent ambassador to NATO under Donald Trump,
0:56.5	Kay Bailey Hutchison. And also in this episode, I'll give you a brief update on where things
1:01.3	stand in Germany's big federal election this fall. But first, let's get to our podcast panel.
1:08.6	Joining us for the panel this week are Annabelle Dixon in London.
1:12.8	Hello.
1:14.1	Lily Byer in Brussels.
1:15.7	Hi, everyone.
1:17.1	And Saim Saeed, who's also in Brussels.
1:19.7	Hi, guys.
1:20.5	Sayim, you are from Pakistan originally and have spent a lot of time in and around
1:26.7	the region. One of the things that seems to have gotten a bit lost spent a lot of time in and around the region. One of the things that seems to
1:29.9	have gotten a bit lost in a lot of the press coverage over the past few days is what people
	...

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