Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan

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A01=Ahmad Shuja Jamal
A01=William Maley
Afghanistan
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Author_Ahmad Shuja Jamal
Author_William Maley
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=JPS
Category=JPSL
COP=United Kingdom
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
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eq_society-politics
International Relations
Islamic State
Language_English
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Price_€20 to €50
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softlaunch
Taliban
UK
USA
Western withdrawal

Product details

  • ISBN 9781787388017
  • Dimensions: 138 x 216mm
  • Publication Date: 23 Feb 2023
  • Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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A searing indictment of how Afghan elites and the Western powers pulled the rug on the Afghan people, abandoning them to their fate.


The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 was the result of declining active support for the government, and of waste and inefficiency in aid delivery. Yet, while corrosive, these problems were not in themselves sufficient to have brought about a collapse. To a significant degree, they were the result of early failings in institutional design, reflecting an American inclination to pursue short-term policy approaches that created perverse incentives—thus interfering with the long-term objective of stability.

This book exposes the true factors underpinning Kabul’s fall. The Afghan Republic came under relentless attack from Taliban insurgents who depended critically on Pakistani support. It also suffered a creeping invasion that put the government on the back foot as the US tried and failed to deal with Pakistan’s perfidy. The fatal blow came when bored US leaders naively cut an exit deal with the enemy, fatally compromising the operation of the Afghan army and air force and triggering the final collapse, with top leaders at odds over whether to make a final stand in Kabul.

The Afghan Republic did not simply decline and fall. It was betrayed.

Formerly director-general for international relations on Kabul’s National Security Council, Ahmad Shuja Jamal practises law in Melbourne. A former Fulbright scholar, he has worked for Human Rights Watch. William Maley is Emeritus Professor of Diplomacy at Australian National University, and the author of many books on Afghan politics and history.

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