Why did the Afghan military collapse and disband after the withdrawal of most of the foreign troops, despite its superiority in armament and personnel? What short-term scenarios can be envisaged for the Taliban governance and for the future of women and all those who worked for the previous regime and foreign allies or agencies? What has been and might be the role of external actors, namely China and Pakistan?
These were some of the issues debated in the webinar, moderated by Teresa Almeida Cravo, head of the International Relations Unit of the University of Coimbra School of Economics, with Omar Samad, non-resident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council and former Afghan Ambassador to France and Canada,, Ayscha Hamdani, an Afghan advocate for the rights of women and children and former Chief of Staff to the EU Special Representative to Afghanistan, Carlos Branco, a retired Portuguese General who served in NATO in Afghanistan and Pedro Caldeira Rodrigues, a Portuguese journalist with a large experience on violent conflict scenarios.
You can (re)watch the debate on Facebook and YouTube (direct links).
This webinar was co-organised by the Club of Lisbon and the School of Economics of the University of Coimbra, with the usual support of the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa and the Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr - IMVF.