AFGHANISTAN AND THE COURSE OF US EMPIRE

Please join us for a discussion of Afghanistan and the state of US empire featuring Gilbert Achcar (University of London, Department of Development Studies), Quan Tran (Yale University, Race, Ethnicity, and Migration) and Robert Vitalis (University of Pennsylvania, Political Science), moderated by Chris Vials (American Studies, UConn).  The event will on zoom (see link below) on Wednesday, September 29 @ 4:00-5:30pm.   It has been organized by UConn American Studies and is co-sponsored by Middle East Studies, Asian and Asian American Studies, Political Science, and the Humanities Institute.

The guests will consider a range of questions.   What do recent events in Afghanistan reveal about the course of U.S. empire?   What does the rapid seizure of the Afghan state by the Taliban reveal (and not reveal) about the place of the United States in the Middle East and around the world?   Do recent events signal an emerging trajectory in the terms of US military, economic, and/or cultural power?  What shape might the Taliban government take, and what are some implications for the people of Afghanistan?   In terms of representation, what are some implications of the narrative, so widespread in US media, that “we lost” Afghanistan?   How do the chaotic scenes of evacuation at the Kabul airport compare to the iconic “fall of Saigon” in 1975, and how does the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan compare to the end of the US war in Vietnam?     What is to become of Afghan refugees, in comparison to refugees from earlier US wars, given the current geo-politics of immigration and asylum?

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88001574346?pwd=WGRSN2s5Q0pMVXh2T09DNEtpVHdtZz09

Meeting ID: 880 0157 4346
Passcode: uhgF6iv

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