Global blame game

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It didn't take long for public dismay at the images of Afghans desperate to escape the Taliban to turn into political recriminations. President Joe Biden was unapologetic yesterday in the face of cross-aisle criticism of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Kabul. Yet as Samy Adghirni reports, that defiance hasn't stopped European allies from laying the blame on Washington, even as they conceded to being similarly caught out by the Taliban's lightning victory. The finger-pointing is not surprising. For Afghanistan's neighbors and for Europe, it's not just about America's standing in the world. There are key domestic imperatives. Turkey was first to warn of the potential for an influx of Afghan refugees via Iran. That's an alarming scenario for Europe's political class, still scarred by the refugee crisis of 2015 triggered by the civil war in Syria that fed anti-immigrant sentiment, exposing the continent's deep, lingering, divisions over the issue. It still has potentially big ramifications today. President Emmanuel Macron's main challenge in France's presidential elections in April is likely to be from anti-immigration politicians. The campaign for Germany's September election is suddenly reverberating with loaded rhetoric on immigration, adding to an already unpredictable race. Armin Laschet, the lead conservative candidate, insisted there will be "no repeat of 2015," when Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted some 1 million refugees. The Greens demanded the government focus on evacuating as many Afghans who worked for western nations as possible rather than talking of "refugee waves." Whether Afghans will make a dash for Europe is open to question. But the debate is a potent example of the political fallout from the Taliban's victory over the West. Either way, the ripples from Kabul's fall are only just being felt. — Alan Crawford

People climb over the boundary wall of Hamid Karzai International Airport yesterday.  Source: NurPhoto/Getty Images You can follow our latest coverage on Afghanistan here. Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

Global Headlines

Missed opportunity | A deal between Afghan and Taliban negotiators in Qatar to declare a two-week cease-fire in exchange for President Ashraf Ghani's resignation and the start of talks on a transitional government may have avoided the turmoil from the U.S. pullout, Nick Wadhams reports. Until, that is, it was scuppered by Ghani's decision to flee, sources say. The chaotic U.S. withdrawal was 20 years in the making, a key congressionally mandated watchdog agency concluded just days before the Taliban takeover. Remarkable shift | The first time the Taliban took over Afghanistan a quarter-century ago, China refused to recognize their rule and left its embassy shut for years. Now Beijing has been among the first to embrace the Islamist militants next door, providing crucial legitimacy for an organization that has long been a global pariah due to its support of terrorism and the repression of women. German way | Seeking to understand China's regulatory crackdown, some economists are looking over 4,500 miles away, to Berlin. As an economic model, Germany has large state-owned banks and strong manufacturing exports. While the analogy has its limits, there's convergence in the key areas of anti-trust rules, an emphasis on manufacturing over services and the approach to education. U.K. companies posted more than 1 million new job vacancies for the first time as loosening coronavirus rules led to an unprecedented scramble for staff. The Office for National Statistics figures also show evidence of inflation pressures from rising wages. Backing down | Poland's government has now promised to change a disciplinary regime for judges that the European Union's top court ruled infringes on the bloc's standards for judicial independence and the rule of law. The dispute is at the center of a tussle in which the EU is considering slashing aid to Poland over democratic backsliding and follows the nationalist government's loss of its parliamentary majority last week. Best of Bloomberg Opinion The Afghanistan Army Was Always Doomed: James Stavridis Biden's Approval Rating Takes Its First Dip: Jonathan Bernstein Malaysia's Political Drama Will Have Encores: Daniel Moss Conciliatory tone | Peru's new government is working with the mining industry on a new approach to community relations and red tape to unlock more of the country's mineral wealth. As María Cervantes explains, the administration's pragmatic tone may further ease fears stoked by talk in President Pedro Castillo's election campaign of greater state intervention in natural resources that would stifle investment. What to Watch New Zealand went into a three-day nationwide lockdown after the discovery of a solitary case of Covid-19. China announced naval and aerial live-fire military exercises in areas south of Taiwan today, without saying how close to the democratically ruled island the drills were. President Nicolas Maduro said negotiations with the opposition to end a five-year political impasse in Venezuela "got off to a good start," and that he will propose direct talks with the U.S. The U.S. is poised to offer virus booster shots as soon as next month, with the country facing renewed cases fueled by the delta variant. Malaysia's lawmakers must submit their choice of a new prime minister to the palace by tomorrow afternoon, as the nation's king begins the search for a successor to Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned yesterday. And finally ... The origin story of Covid-19 remains a mystery mired in contentious debate. But as Jason Gale reports, a research paper that languished in publishing limbo for a year and a half contains meticulously collected evidence supporting scientists' initial hypothesis — that the outbreak stemmed from infected wild animals sold in China's so-called wet markets. That theory prevailed until speculation that SARS-CoV-2 escaped from a nearby lab gained traction. A raccoon dog in the Wuhan wet market in 2013.  Source: Animal Equality

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