After the fall of the Taliban – but also after centuries of colonialism and decades of proxy war and chaos – the world pledged an unprecedented sum of money and committed vast military resources to Afghanistan. Amidst this largess voices of optimism, hope and progress began to drone out the once familiar stories of despair, perseverance and exhaustion.

In the capital city of Kabul, among broken bricks, dust and craters, Westerners and Afghans alike moved quickly to forge new circuits and in some cases graft entirely new systems – of law, economics, architecture and defense strategy – onto the shell of what remained. Perhaps too quickly. ‘Budget' and ‘Progress' became the sole watchwords of the reconstruction and security efforts. Notions of patience, consideration, cooperation and history sounded tinny and weak.
Speed itself had become a goal...
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