The United Nations Refugee Agency is asking for continued support of millions of Afghanistan refugees that are waiting to hear the aftermath of peace talk from the Taliban and the Kabul government. Since U.S. troops have left the region and COVID-19 has become rampant, the state of Kabul has been extremely weak. Countries have been planning on stopping their aid and following the U.S.’s steps in the next upcoming weeks. Therefore, the Taliban has more control as many troops depart. The Afghan government is set to present new programs at the Geneva meeting that will include peace negotiations and new jobs. This meeting will bring peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan officials, but a Western senior official stated that they would have to agree with the major points of security.
The United States starting to draw back from major foreign intervention over the past several years has been beneficial for the American people. At the same time, it has unfortunately started a trend among other states. The United States was a key player in past conflicts in Afghanistan, yet they have shown that there is not as much national interest as there was in the early 2000s. The issue that has been brought up by many is the stabilization of Afghanistan. Because many countries don’t have much interest in Afghanistan, it does not benefit them to stabilize the region. This is why huge donations have been cut by 10 to 15% over the past several years.
To this day, the Taliban is a huge non-state actor that has impacted the region of South Asia for almost three decades. There have been a total of 300,000 Afghans displaced this past year alone because of Taliban forces exerting their power over a weakened state. Because peace talks will have to halt, the Taliban has more power than ever before, especially with COVID-19 ramifications on the people and the economy.