One year after the Taliban's return to power and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, life in Afghanistan has been transformed for many into a daily struggle for survival – marked by unemployment, homelessness, hunger and fear. Most of the attention from the West has focused on the Taliban's draconian social restrictions on women, girls and minorities, said Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins, after the Taliban barred girls from attending school after age 12 and eliminated many women's personal freedoms. But the top concern in Afghanistan today is the economy. An estimated 700,000 have lost jobs since the U.S. withdrawal, which in turn affects the livelihood of millions. After the U.S. military exit, Afghanistan's economy and social safety net collapsed, pushing the country further into poverty after decades of continuous conflict. "Since our departure, (the U.S.) has been very good at criticizing the Taliban’s role in restricting the cultural space in Afghanistan," Nasr said. "But basically, we’ve been completely oblivious to the fact that our sanctions and the economic situation of Afghanistan is destroying the middle class." #Afghanistan #US #kabul #USmilitary