Now that all foreign troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan, ending almost two decades of occupation, there are a series of questions that need to be discussed. For watchers of international politics, the US’s sudden exit from a region that was once called “the heartland” by John Mackinder, a control over which determines who commands the world, a region for which it, directly or indirectly, fought with the USSR, and which shares a geographical boundary with its main rival, China, is nothing less than a puzzle.
The fact that China has emerged as a potential challenger to the US hegemony in the world is now well-known. People involved in international politics have already cited ample evidence for the same. Therefore, in this article, we will not dwell on the obvious and try to unfold the puzzle for our general readers.