This Week: Which Taliban Will Rule Afghanistan?

Plus, a warning to Europe from British Gen. Richard Barrons [Read this email in your browser]( Welcome to FP This Week. In our latest must-read on the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan, FP’s Anchal Vohra talks with Taliban representatives at different rungs of the group’s hierarchy to better understand their agenda. The conversations underscore that the Taliban are planning to resurrect an authoritarian regime—“yet one that might moderate its infamous cruelty,” as Vohra [writes](. And, in a startling [interview]( FP’s Elisabeth Braw, retired British Gen. Richard Barrons issues a warning to the United Kingdom and the European Union. “We have relegated our security and prosperity, and our interests, to the will of U.S. national politics,” Barrons says, and “if anything good has come out of the Afghan catastrophe, it would be it spurring the EU and NATO in some sort of partnership to restore collective security.” Plus: Test yourself on the events of the last tumultuous week in FP’s international news [quiz](. Thank you for reading. EDITORIAL HIGHLIGHTS [talibanarticleaugust2021]( [Two Talibans Are Competing for Afghanistan]( [The leadership of the Taliban has been at pains to spread a very different message. By Anchal Vohra The top of the Taliban hierarchy, many of whom have spent years abroad during the recently ended war, clearly intend on presenting themselves as benign and reformed rulers who crave legitimacy among Afghans and recognition from the international community. Far less clear is whether the rank-and-file Taliban members now governing the entirety of Afghanistan desire the same—much less how, and at whose expense, any resulting tensions within the Taliban will get resolved.]( [Read More]( [‘Europe Runs the Risk of Becoming a Global Strategic Victim’]( [An exclusive FP interview with retired British Gen. Richard Barrons. By Elisabeth Braw Last week, members of Parliament in London held a searing all-day session examining what went wrong for NATO in Afghanistan—and what Britain’s role in the world really is today. In an interview with FP, one of the British military’s most strategic thinkers warns that the United Kingdom and European Union can no longer simply rely on the United States for their security: “We need to confront the reality that NATO without the U.S. is a very limited concept and very limited force.” You can read the full interview here.]( [Read Here]( OTHER HAPPENINGS [NZ-Covid-1334940325](foreignpolicy.com/2021/08/20/foreign-policy-news-quiz-afghanistan-taliban-haiti-earthquake-storm-covid/?utm_source=thisweek&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=thisweekmarketing&?tpcc=thisweekmarketing) What in the World? By Nina Goldman Have you kept up with the news from Afghanistan—and the rest of the world—this week? Test yourself with FP’s weekly news quiz. [Take the Quiz]( Partner with Us: Interested in learning more about FP Analytics’ cutting-edge research services, our FP Virtual Dialogue series, or podcast production by FP Studios? Would you like to equip your team or organization with access to Foreign Policy? Contact Andrew Sollinger at andrew.sollinger@foreignpolicy.com. FOLLOW FP ON This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you are subscribed to FP communications. Want to receive FP newsletters? [Manage]( your FP newsletter preferences. [unsubscribe]( | [privacy policy]( | [contact us]( | [advertise]( Foreign Policy magazine is a division of Graham Holdings Company. All contents © 2021 The Slate Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Foreign Policy, 1750 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006. [Link](