Thursday 7th October 2021 marked the twenty-year anniversary of the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan - the NATO operation endorsed by the UN Security Council following the 9/11 attacks.

The mission, which initially saw the United States lead a coalition of forces to remove al-Qaeda's safe haven and overthrow their Taliban hosts, expanded into a two-decade nation building effort, the failure of which was laid bare by last month's chaotic withdrawal of all NATO forces, the return of the Taliban to power, and the presence of not one, but two competing terrorist organisations in the form of al-Qaeda and the regional ISIS-affiliate, IS-K.

To mark this anniversary, scholars from the University of Southampton's History department explored the operation from four perspectives:

# "As known in history as the graveyard of empires": Was the failure of Enduring Freedom's nation building effort inevitable? - Dr Chris Fuller

# Cherie and Laura Lift the Veil: the women and girls of Afghanistan and the language of the War on Terror - Dr Charlotte Riley

# "Never out of the fight." Hollywood's representation of American foreign policy in Afghanistan - Olivia Flint, PhD candidate

# Decent and indecent intervals: comparing the fall of Saigon and the fall of Kabul - Professor Kendrick Oliver

Streamed live on Thursday 7th October 2021.

For reference to "the idea of Afghanistan as graveyard" during Chris talk, watch https://youtu.be/RmioEI6tzCk ( from min 14'47" to min 15'11")

For reference to Olivia's talk, watch a movie clips from Lone Survivor at https://youtu.be/3bmDhfEtNh0

Find more about History and Films at the University of Southampton at
- https://www.southampton.ac.uk/history/
- https://www.southampton.ac.uk/film/

The event was organised by the History Department at the University of Southampton and took place as part of the pre-festival events of Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival, 11 - 20 November 2021.

Visit the official Festival website at https://www.southamptonartshumfest.co.uk/

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