Prolonged Wars in the Middle East

September 28, 2019 – Both the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars bring up broader issues about the effects of prolonged war on a nation, what state-building challenges arise with the overthrow of a government, and how to ensure withdrawing from a country battered by years of war doesn’t present a vacuum for groups with extreme ideologies to occupy. Afghanistan has come a long way in terms of women’s rights, education opportunities and other minority rights since the U.S. invasion, but will this ‘peace’ agreement turn back the clock?