Hassan Abbas

Most governments with real money have kept their distance, and the frozen reserves have stayed frozen.

Hassan Abbas, who wrote a book on the Taliban in power, put it to the Times this way.

He expects the Taliban to stay isolated for as long as they refuse to reverse their most extreme policies.

These policies come from Kandahar, where the Supreme Leader lives.

America's own watchdog for Afghan reconstruction looked at the last mining effort.

It found the United States spent close to a billion dollars on it between 2004 and 2021, with no tangible progress to show.

Hassan Abbas gave The Times the bluntest summary of how the pitch is landing.

There is no appetite in D.C., he said.