Nothing has done more to both epitomise and intensify the collapse of human rights than the calamitous US-led withdrawal from Afghanistan. Undoing twenty years of diplomatic, financial, educational and military investment, it demonstrated to the world a lack of will by western governments, and especially the USA, to promote and defend principles which transcend mere national interests. Gone are the days when a “leader of the free world” like John F Kennedy would declare: 

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”