Clearly the international community is still shell-shocked from the rapid advances of the Taliban and the speed with which they have retaken Kabul. Yet for people who thought that the last few days were confusing, even chaotic, what is likely to come might be an even bigger surprise. For now that the Taliban have come and the Afghan government has collapsed, all pieces will take their sweet time to fall into their places and nobody can tell as yet just what kind of setup is going to emerge. You can be sure that the Taliban will have a few problems sticking with the constitution that the Americans bequeathed unto their predecessors in the presidential palace, so any sort of clarity is a far way away. The residents of Kabul, especially those that were happy to see the end of the old Taliban regime when the Americans first started this long, ugly war, are clearly in panic. Images of hundreds of residents mobbing the tarmac at Kabul airport, desperate to find any way to get out of the country, are an apt indication of their sense of insecurity and have, quite understandably, left global audiences dumbfounded. And while Taliban fighters on the ground have been telling media outlets that they have been told to respect and protect people’s privacy and honour, there is a growing feeling that sooner or later they will begin to tighten the screws on social society; just like they did in the 1990s, hence all the angst. So this is the fruit of America’s longest, most-expensive, military adventure ever. After dumping trillions of dollars into fighting the war, erecting the Afghan government, training and arming the Afghan National Army, bribing their ministers and buying their militias, the Americans still had to cut and run in the most humiliating way imaginable as all that they created simply melted away in the face of the Taliban’s final advance. History could well remember this moment as the pivot point when the American empire lost its luster. Other ‘friends’ that played a part, like India, are also bitterly disappointed because their investments have just gone bad. Now they will have to think of ways of becoming relevant in the region all over again. Islamabad, for its part, has done the sensible thing of stressing to a visiting Afghan delegation that only a “comprehensive political solution” can save the day and bring a sense of normalcy to their country as well as the region. Now the whole world will have to look on with bated breaths as the Taliban decide how to run their own country. *