Description
The 2021 retreat of international troops and organisations from Afghanistan, following 20 years of intervention, highlighted the fragility of the intervention-backed political order and exposed its lack of legitimacy. At the same time, the deep socio-economic entanglements between foreign interveners and the Afghan society became apparent in the attempts of many Afghans trying to leave a country under renewed Taliban rule. The withdrawal challenged longstanding narratives of intervening countries as benevolent, reliable partners, prompting numerous official investigations, government and parliamentary reports. A comparative analysis of these reports—focusing particularly on the treatment of Afghan Locally Employed Staff (LES)—reveals how intervening actors view themselves as military and humanitarian forces, as well as their perceptions of Afghan society and the mission's objectives. Furthermore, we argue that these reports, despite their purported critical approaches, reflect efforts to shape dominant narratives of blame, creating distance from perceived failures while constructing notions of closeness toward certain Afghans deemed "worthy" of protection. In contrast, others are portrayed as responsible for the breakdown or as adversaries. This study draws on empirical examples from German, Dutch, UK, and US reports to illustrate these dynamics of global hierarchy making.
