How the "economic fundamentals" of opium undermined U.S. strategy in Afghanistan

Aug 24, 2021
The U.S. spent billions trying to suppress Afghanistan’s illicit opium and heroin trade. It didn’t work.
A U.S. Marine sergeant patrols in an Afghan poppy field in 2011. With many farmers dependent on the opium trade, Jeffrey Clemens says, "the effort to win hearts and minds" was set back by the U.S. eradication program.
Bay Ismoyo/AFP via Getty Images

Afghanistan turmoil intensifies refugee housing efforts

Aug 23, 2021
Many refugees are eligible for special visas to live in the U.S.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 21:  In this handout provided by the U.S. Air Force, an air crew prepares to load evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in support of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 21, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Taylor Crul/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images

Uncertainty awaits Afghan refugees coming to the U.S.

Aug 23, 2021
"You can't just think of these people as refugees. In a lot of cases, you've got to think of them as returning war veterans."
In this handout provided by the U.S. Air Force, an air crew assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron assists evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in support of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 21, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Taylor Crul/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images

Aid groups scramble to prepare homes for Afghan evacuees

Aug 20, 2021
The Biden administration has expanded the Special Immigrant Visa program to allow more Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war to resettle here.
Laura Thompson Osuri, executive director of Homes Not Borders, tosses a pillow to volunteer Amal Abuldood as they prepare an apartment for an Afghan family soon to arrive on Special Immigrant Visas.
Kimberly Adams

"Complete chaos" reigns over Afghan evacuation

Aug 20, 2021
"This is going to be more difficult than the evacuation of Saigon," said Matt Zeller, co-founder of a nonprofit helping with the evacuation effort.
Afghans wait at a military airport in Kabul to board a U.S. aircraft to leave the country, days after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

Head of Afghan central bank warns of further economic collapse under Taliban

Aug 18, 2021
Ajmal Ahmady, whose dramatic exit from the country was described in viral tweets, says inflation and poverty will likely rise.
Neat piles of Afghan currency are shown at the central bank in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2002.
Chris Hondros via Getty Images

Cutting the Taliban off from global trade could be a tall order

Aug 17, 2021
The U.S. has already frozen Afghan assets in this country.
Pedestrians pass Afghanistan's Kabul Bank in 2010. The Taliban, which have retaken control of the country, remain under long-standing U.S. financial sanctions.
Shah Marai/AFP via Getty Images

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Afghan women stand to lose 20 years of gains as Taliban seize control

Aug 17, 2021
The last time the fundamentalists were in power, they banned education for girls and women.
A social worker address Afghan women gathered at a hall in Kabul on Aug. 2, 2021.
SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images

Who is going to provide funding to Afghanistan under the Taliban?

With the Taliban in control, the business picture there could look foggy to the rest of the world, especially when it comes to how much money the government will actually have.
Taliban fighters stand guard in Kabul on August 17, 2021, as the Taliban moved quickly to restart the Afghan capital following their stunning takeover of Kabul and told government staff to return to work.
Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Humanitarian groups scramble as Taliban takes power in Afghanistan

Aug 16, 2021
The hardline government might need the groups to provide basic social services. But it's also likely to fear their human rights advocacy.
Afghan women stand with items received from a charity in Herat in December 2019.
STR/AFP via Getty Images