Capital of the world, the time of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the seventy-second of its kind, the American megalopolis of skyscrapers and lights, has been the focus of all eyes since September 21. Not only had the leaders of the planet been together for a long time, due to the covid-19 health crisis, but this month’s meeting takes place in a particular context in view of the tensions that surround it.
For the participants, this meeting has always been one of speeches, remonstrances and all the same also constructive pleas. Head of the host country, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, thus spoke for the very first time in this forum since his election at the head of the first world power. Aware of the threats of all kinds that weigh on humanity, and the danger represented by the rivalries between the five permanent members of the Security Council, the tenant of the White House has advocated appeasement in international relations. “No to a new cold war “, he said in essence, looking to China.
That said, the issues of concern for America and the rest of the nations are many: Afghanistan, Iranian nuclear, covid-19, climate change, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still abysmal relations between the West and Russia, rising power of China, Europe and its concerns for strategic independence, missiles from North Korea, the migrant crisis, so many lines of work on which governments are leaning without knowing if they will one day see the end of the tunnel. In this string, obviously, Washington and its allies aspire to be the great managers.
Twenty years spent building a democratic Afghanistan, which boils down to an immediate evacuation of Allied troops under the threat of the Taliban, who have once again become masters of the place, are neither celebrated nor tolerated. Failing to take up arms again on a ground that has proven to be too slippery, the West will let time deal with the emotions of the present. Because for the so-called free nations, the problem of Afghanistan is not so much the hasty departure of the allied forces, but the way in which the new leaders of the country will govern.
When you see the attachment they have for their country, the Afghans forced into exile by force of circumstance will never stop dreaming of returning home, rediscovering theirs, their lands and their habits. Therefore, in the countries that host them, their stay should not turn into a collective nightmare for themselves and for their hosts. Hence the appeal to the Taliban to work to organize the power they won, obviously through hard struggle, for the benefit of their compatriots.
It is up to the countries that have started to trade with the Kabul government to repeat this message until it is understood by them. The UN General Assembly is an appropriate forum for exerting such pressure. The more speakers take up the cause of an Afghanistan converted to freedom, the more the Taliban will realize that countries may be sovereign, their leaders may be legitimate, any power that does not benefit the people, the great majority, is doomed to defeat. The new Afghan leaders, some of whom were already twenty years ago, are well placed to know this.
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