Afghanistan is often described in history as the "graveyard of empires," because military interventions by the British, Soviets and Americans have all stalled. We often forget to add that it's also a country where the population is always the first to suffer from decisions made by the powerful presiding over its destiny. In 2025, nothing has changed. On January 20, US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend US foreign aid for 90 days and to scuttle the institutions responsible for delivering it, is threatening the lives of Afghan men and women already facing a serious humanitarian and social crisis.

The US may have been ruthlessly ousted from Afghanistan by the Taliban in the summer of 2021, but it remains the main financial backer of a country shunned by all nations and under heavy international sanctions. To such a degree that, according to the United Nations (UN), this windfall is vital if Afghanistan is to avoid collapse. According to the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the agency tasked by the US Congress with overseeing use of US funds, the US "has appropriated or otherwise made available $21.36 billion [€20.56 billion] in assistance" since the withdrawal of its forces.

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