WHO WILL REBUILD AFGHANISTAN?
After the Taliban takeover of Kabul on Aug. 15, over 100,000 people were evacuated out of Afghanistan by the time the US fully withdrew from the country on Aug. 31. A reasonable portion of those who have left are thought to be scholars and young professionals. Recently, the UNHCR, UN’s refugee agency, predicted there could be half a million Afghans leaving Afghanistan by the end of this year. With the country in desperate need of economic relief and rebuilding, who could carry out the daunting task of nation building?
First and foremost, Chomsky is sceptical as to whether the refugees will be able to leave their country no matter how much they desperately need to, due to the rigorous restrictions Europe and US are imposing on their borders. “They may want to leave but where are they going to go? To Uzbekistan? Tajikistan? Denmark? France? Fat chance.”
With much Afghan expertise evacuated out of the country and even more planning to leave, Chomsky predicts that the most likely scenario is that China will get involved in supporting the development of Afghanistan.
“Pretty confident they (China) will be trying to help the society develop in some fashion not because they are lovely people but because it’s in their interest.”