The worst consequences of regional tensions – Harici.com.tr

Afghanistan cannot be freed from the positive and negative consequences of current tensions in other parts of the world. The war in Eastern Europe and the Middle East has negative consequences for Afghanistan, but not for the Taliban, as they strive to expand their government as much as possible by taking advantage of the turbulent situation.

In Afghanistan, the focus is on the world, especially the great powers, to open a way out of the current impasse. But the countries involved in the Afghan conflict have forgotten this country and set themselves more important missions in other parts of the world.

After the Taliban returned to power, war broke out in Ukraine, where the world diverted attention from the Afghan crisis, and the war in Ukraine became the main topic and agenda of world leaders.

Not only Russia was involved in the war in Ukraine, but also the United States and the European Union, two large blocs, and if they want, they can put an end to the Afghan crisis.

Now, more than two years after the war in Ukraine, not only is there no news about the end of the crisis, but more and more costs and resources are coming from all sides to maintain the war. Even some security experts acknowledge that the war in Ukraine could last for years.

Before finding a way out of the Ukraine crisis, war broke out in the Gaza Strip – a war that turned the Middle East into a powder keg, and no way out of this situation has yet been found.

Regional and global players have failed to manage the situation or even derail a short-term ceasefire to help reduce civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.

The US is involved not only in the war in Ukraine, but also in the war in the Gaza Strip – a factor that has made Washington think only about the survival and security of Israel and not care about the issue of Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, if Tehran and Tel Aviv enter a cycle of large-scale conflict, the war in the Middle East will become regional.

Instead of ending the war in Gaza, it caused a new war in Lebanon. What is happening these days in Lebanon is the result of the war in Gaza, and the most unpleasant thing is that civilians are again being targeted.

For the United States, not only the war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, but also the war in Lebanon is of great concern. Likewise, France, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is involved in the war in Lebanon.

Iran, as Afghanistan’s neighbor and regional power, is locked in the battle for Lebanon. The Lebanese crisis is also worrying Saudi Arabia. The aid that Riyadh has sent to Lebanon in the past few months has not been sent to Afghanistan in the past three years.

As with the other two crises, the prospect of ending the Lebanese war looks bleak, at least in the short term. It is possible that a larger crisis will arise from this – a war between Israel and Iran.

Not long ago, Tehran launched about two hundred ballistic missiles towards Israel, to which Tel Aviv has not yet responded. For three weeks, the world’s eyes have been focused on Israel’s possible response – a response that is unlikely to ignite the flames of a full-scale war between the two sides.

It is obvious that when Tehran and Tel Aviv enter a cycle of large-scale conflict, the war in the Middle East will take on a regional character. When Gaza, Lebanon, Israel, Iran, etc. are involved in a war, then what is happening in the Middle East can be called a regional war. In this case, Iran’s allied militias from Yemen, Iraq, etc. will also shoot at Israel, and there will be no doubt that the war is regional in nature.

Fortunately, the war in Afghanistan is over

Meanwhile, among other crises and conflicts, the crisis in Afghanistan will be forgotten. Meanwhile, if not for the above crises, the Taliban’s presence in Afghanistan, especially women’s rights to work and girls’ rights to education, would be high on the agenda of world leaders.

Now, compared to other crises, the situation in Afghanistan cannot be called a crisis. It is true that Afghanistan suffers from statelessness, but in the opinion of many, the war is over. If terrorism is active in Afghanistan, it does not pose a serious and direct threat to the interests of other countries. If there is any threat, it is nothing in the eyes of the world compared to other current crises.

Even if an economic crisis rages in Afghanistan, the image of refugees and famine victims in Gaza and Lebanon will be better in the eyes of the world than that of the hungry people of Afghanistan. This is exactly the image that has emerged in the minds of the whole world in connection with the Afghan crisis. Major regional and global players are looking for their interests at the end of crises other than the Afghan crisis.

Major regional and global players seek their interests at the end of every war.

Over the past few months, only organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others have published statements characterizing the situation in Afghanistan as dangerous and requiring serious attention from the whole world.

Or the World Food Program and other humanitarian organizations write about the increase in hunger and the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis, etc., that even for this reason there are no eyes to see and no ears to hear. The rest of the world’s effective institutions and powers involved in Afghanistan remain silent and watch what is happening in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Ukraine.

A summary of Afghanistan’s statelessness problems related to seasonal diseases shows that the country has disappeared from the eyes of the world, at least for now.

More importantly, ignoring the bad situation in the Afghan media indicates the lack of significance of the country’s crisis in the eyes of the world.

Recently, the media has been subject to more repression and censorship than before. According to some reports, televisions will be blocked or turned into radios. Until now, there has been no serious voice in support of the media of Western institutions and countries against this decision of the Taliban.

Only the Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization and some other organizations are raising their voice, but this will not bring any result.

The US presidential election, which was a source of hope for many, cannot be too hopeful now because if Democratic candidate Kamala Harris wins, she will follow in Joe Biden’s footsteps on Afghanistan policy. And if Republican candidate Donald Trump wins, provided he is committed to ending the war and prioritizing the crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon and Iran over Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. In this case, it will still take a long time to resolve the crisis in Afghanistan.