Chapter Prelude : The scene

Abstract

This book explores the what, the why, and the how of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan almost 20 years after their removal from power. It examines how the U.S. discourses on War on Terror and state-building in Afghanistan have taken shape, became dominant over the past two decades, and to delineate their consequences. Also, it highlights how both discourses are representative of wider depoliticization of the society and eventually paved the way for the illiberal, oppressive politics of confinement and necropolitics. The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of politics and international relations, U.S. foreign policy, peace and conflict studies, area studies, especially West Asian and South Asian studies.