Sandew Hira and Ramon Grosfoguel discuss the fall of Kabul, the expulsion of the US and what may be a ‘new’ Taliban taking over Afghanistan in the last week.

Hira and Grosfoguel overview a history of Afghanistan since the Soviet invasion of 1979, look at the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s and compare it to the situation now. How can we understand the sudden capitulation of forces to the Taliban in 2021? Why and how does the mainstream media narrative fail to grasp the actual situation? How can we look at the matter through a decolonial frame whilst retaining critical apprehension?

Keywords: Afghanistan, Taliban, Iran, US