The End of Another Beginning: Afghanistan 1994-2021 - Paperback

by Mohammad Saleem Anwar (Author)

The End of Another Beginning is a powerful memoir that opens with the author's earliest childhood memory from 1994, when Afghanistan was in the grip of a brutal civil war. It concludes in 2021, when persistent internal and external challenges led to the collapse of the Afghan government, along with the United States and the international community ending their most extensive military engagement in history and exiting the country. The author gives detailed insight into the pre-collapse and post-collapse events, including his and his family's departure from their homeland and arrival in the United States through the massive U.S.-led evacuation process-having witnessed the chaos firsthand in the capital, Kabul.

Between these years, the author's personal story unfolds alongside the historical, political, social, and cultural realities of Afghanistan-many of which have been overlooked or forgotten. The book highlights the efforts, sacrifices, achievements, and ambitions of the Afghan people for their country, and how internal, regional, and global challenges have persistently prevented them from reaching their goals. This is the living history of Afghanistan behind the war-showing the fragility of hope, endeavor, progress, and resilience amid the complex dynamics of power, corruption, and conspiracy. Yet it also captures the bright, positive, and spirited sides of the country and its people.

Beyond a personal journey, this memoir offers a citizen's detailed, objective, and fact-based perspective on the international community's military engagement, foreign policy, and development assistance in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021.