The Afghanistan regime’s problems have been compounded by a sharp reduction in foreign aid, a prolonged drought, famine and cultural factors. Its leaders are experienced on the battlefield but not with the details of governance. The country has been largely forgotten by the international community.

Third high-level meeting of Afghan officials, together with the foreign ministers of neighboring countries, reflected China’s strategic commitment to the greater Middle East region and charted a course that can lead to the end of chaos.

The winners and losers of the last year tell a story of turbulence and change in a year that saw the world make it through 12 more months of global pandemic and simmering geopolitical tensions, without resolving either issue.

The new Taliban regime in Kabul is faced with the responsibility of governing an impoverished, underdeveloped nation recovering from decades of destruction. Their biggest asset is the nation’s massive mineral deposits, which neighboring China will likely assist in extracting.

What is the role of the SCO in stabilization and reconstruction? The capacity of its members may be limited, but the U.S. withdrawal presents an opportunity to build credibility. Failure to act may invite skepticism in the international community about the group’s ability to participate in international affairs.

China and Russia have spent over 20 years in direct partnership with many of Central Asia’s nations, and there the Taliban’s new government fits in is causing a major commotion at their cooperative table.

A Taliban-run Afghanistan poses some benefit to Beijing, particularly if they can maintain stability and steer clear of hostile agreements. And for better or worse, China has the opportunity to fill in gaps left by the fall of the U.S.-supported regime.

The transatlantic honeymoon is over. Europe is being forced, in its own best interests, to pursue greater strategic autonomy, since it is finding the United States to be a shaky and unreliable ally. Feeling exposed, Europe will look more toward providing for its own security.

Parallels between the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan and its previous defeat in Vietnam have been top of mind for many, nowhere more so than in Southeast Asia itself, where American intervention and the ensuing fallout is still being reckoned with today.

America’s wounds are wholly self-inflicted, and it has only itself to blame. Many betrayals have been committed over the last two decades, including some against its own allies, undermining their trust.