Was US failure in Afghanistan inevitable?

Does the swift collapse of the US-backed Afghan government suggest that places like Afghanistan are ungovernable by anything other than brute force and unimpeded corruption — or does it suggest that the ultimate folly of the post-9/11 wars was the conceit of “nation building” itself?

An episode of the The Minefield podcast, hosted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, titled "Was US failure in Afghanistan inevitable?" was published on August 26, 2021 and runs 54 minutes.

August 26, 2021 ·54m · The Minefield

Summary

Does the swift collapse of the US-backed Afghan government suggest that places like Afghanistan are ungovernable by anything other than brute force and unimpeded corruption — or does it suggest that the ultimate folly of the post-9/11 wars was the conceit of “nation building” itself?

Episode Description