So long, America: Inside the 27 August Guardian Weekly
The world has looked on aghast at the desperate scenes in Afghanistan since the western troop withdrawal and the subsequent Taliban takeover. In this week’s Guardian Weekly, as critics round on President Joe Biden’s abrupt handling of the US pullout from Kabul in particular, our world affairs editor Julian Borger asks whether the fall of Kabul signals the end of the long era of American interventionism – and if so, what will take its place?
Then, Guardian correspondents Jason Burke and Emma Graham-Harrison – both of whom have reported extensively from Afghanistan – examine what the takeover signifies for Islamist extremism around the world, and how far the Afghan Taliban’s claims to be a more tolerant ruling force than before can be taken at face value.
In our Opinion section, columnist Nesrine Malik recalls US airstrikes from the days when she was a student in Somalia
– and argues compellingly why the west will not learn the lessons from the fall of Kabul.
For many people in the northern hemisphere, August is a time for summer holidays. But with the pandemic having put the squeeze on most foreign travel, communities that depend heavily on the tourist dollar have been hit hard, and those in developing countries even more so. We visit four destinations on the road less travelled to find out how people are coping with the lack of visitors – and whether they want them back.
One of the many challenges of meeting net zero targets is how we can live more sustainably and extend the lifespans of the everyday things we depend on. As new “right to repair” laws are floated in the UK and the US, we take a look at what mending really means and how we can learn to re-evaluate the objects that surround us.
There’s also a fascinating interview with violinist and longtime Bad Seed Warren Ellis on how a small piece of Nina Simone’s chewing gum, stealthily procured 22 years ago, became a metaphor for his own musical journey.
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