On the eve of the Assumption, helicopters were evacuating the American embassy in Kabul, which was falling into the hands of the Taliban. After twenty years of the "war on terror," a bloody occupation of Afghanistan, and a war in Iraq that together cost trillions of dollars and countless human lives, American imperialism is leaving Afghanistan defeated, having also lost control of Iraq.

What really happened in Afghanistan? Was it truly a humiliating defeat for the USA or an agreed-upon change of guard? Who are the Taliban and what do they represent? Are they a construct of American intelligence agencies? An expression of "medieval Islam"? Or the reactionary product of decades of imperialist interventions and the bankruptcy of the once very strong Left's strategy in Afghanistan and beyond?

The texts in this edition of the Marxist Bookstore answer these questions. However, they delve deeper into the analysis of modern capitalism and the intensification of so-called geopolitical competitions around the world.

They also explain why we need to systematically reject the views that argue we can help the women of Afghanistan by aligning with the extortions of the "civilized" Western governments. Additionally, they address why we need to strengthen the movement that says refugees are welcome, against the racist atrocities of New Democracy and Fortress Europe.