The consequences of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan two years ago are bad enough for the people who live there, especially women and girls, but also for the region and the world, in the flow of migrants and threat of terrorism.
Yet there is little appetite in western capitals to give a platform to opposition groups who want a different and better future for their country, and protect the social benefits achieved at such cost over 20 years of fledgling democracy.
The Taliban administration cannot last – it rules only by fear and violence. It faces internal divisions, with open expressions of dissent by senior figures – some of whom have been sidelined and simmer with resentment. And there is a worsening conflict between the Kabul-based Haqqani network and the political centre under the supreme leader Haibatullah Akhunzada, in Kandahar in the south.
