27. July 2023

While a horrific war is raging in the Ukraine and people in Germany are afraid of a gas and inflation crisis, media coverage of the suffering in Afghanistan is increasingly receding into the background. There is, however, a great deal of interest in coming to terms with the failure, as our panel discussion on 15 July showed. Around 100 visitors listened to the analyses of renowned war reporters Wolfgang Bauer and Emran Feroz, digitally as well as on site, to their analyses of the failure of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

In the wake of the advance of the Taliban, Feroz was one of the most sought-after experts in the German as well as the international media. As a son of Afghan parents, who still has many friends and relatives in Afghanistan, he was able to provide insights into the mostly desperate situation of the Afghans still living in their country. Most of all Feroz criticized the view, still strongly influenced by prejudice and racism, on a country that Wolfgang Bauer knows only too well. Both provided sharp analyses of the failed engagement of Western states and denounced the impatience in dealing with the cultural and religious complexities that many simply ignored. The question of values and which values should or could apply, was also discussed. Afghanistan, according to Bauer, has come far too close to us to forget.

The full discussion can be found here (video only available in German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nvRbP35rp4