2021 was the long awaited decisive year.

I wish he was PM. So much candour, understanding and real life experience. A great loss to Government.

This aged well

@seanriopel3132

2 жыл бұрын

I literally just said it didn't aged well.

@Miltiades178

2 жыл бұрын

@@seanriopel3132 i mean, its said commonly

@seanriopel3132

2 жыл бұрын

@@Miltiades178 it's all good. Just depends how you phrase it. I was looking at it not asking well because it came true which is sad because of the lives wasted and over a trillion spent.

@masonmorgan4

2 жыл бұрын

like spoiled milk and hot trash

@jamesoneill5070

2 жыл бұрын

Stewart's statement about the Taliban not being a threat to take over Kabul was based on the premise that there would be a minimal military presence.

Despite being a conservative (in his words, "a different kind of conservative") I am a huge admirer of Rory Stewart. I read his book a few years ago "The places in Between" about his walk across Afghanistan with his dog, and it shows someone who is incredibly brave, intelligent, inspirational and above all, modest and humble. I wish more people would listen to him... he really could change the world for the better if they would.

@blazodeolireta

3 жыл бұрын

I watched his documentary about Afgh. Mostly accurate, but thanks to Chalmer Johnson's books (the empire trilogy) I could see where he's partly wrong.

@sengleekoay2343

2 жыл бұрын

not possible to be PM at this stage....at least he should be the Secretary General going forward.

@sookibeulah9331

2 жыл бұрын

@@sengleekoay2343 sadly I think he’s got too much honesty and integrity to be made Secretary General. Though he’s exactly who the UN needs it would NEVER appoint him.

@Grubiantoll

2 жыл бұрын

in a better world political alignment shouldn't have anything to do with one persons admiration for another person

@guillermotraverso4112

2 жыл бұрын

he just said highly unlikely that the Taliban will take control again😂😂😂

I am a huge admirer of Rory Stewart. I read his book a few years ago "The places inbetween" about his walk across Afghanistan and it shows someone who is incredibly brave, intelligent, inspirational and above all, humble. I wish more people would listen to him... he really could change the world for the better if they would.

Seven years ago and we are still there. Outrageous

@trolllovindaddy

2 жыл бұрын

Update: the US pulls out, Taliban and afghan government have a civil war

@joeschmoe21

2 жыл бұрын

@@trolllovindaddy US and UK (for a second time) got kicked out. :)

This talk given in 2011, now in 2021 seems to resonate with the current situations.

@isn0t42

2 жыл бұрын

ten years later we finally got our decisive year

Thank you Rory, simply brilliant and simply put. Thank you for reaching the TED audience... maybe others can be reached via the audience members. Every little bit helps - we MUST affect a positive change right NOW! Thanks again.

RORY STUART Thanks for bringing the truth out. May Allah reward you the best life in both worlds.

@rileystewart9165

3 жыл бұрын

:| I believe you misspelled Stewart ;) Inshallah our withdrawal agreement holds. I'm American and just like most Americans I think we should not be there. History shows the Afghan people cannot be conquered. خير په مو شپه

To think that the Tories would choose Boris Johnson over this man...

@JJ-te2pi

5 жыл бұрын

A sad indication of the state of the Tory party! Rory Stewart is worth 10 BoJos.

@hsdsaunders

5 жыл бұрын

@@JJ-te2pi I fear you have really overestiamted the value of BoJos

@philipbrooks402

3 жыл бұрын

I disagree with your assessment. As a politician Rory Stewart was wasted and was at times frankly odd. However, in this field he is eloquent, knowledgeable. What an indictment of our FO when its Afghan dept had nobody with firsthand knowledge of the country. Find a place for him where his real talents can be used.

@khilafat2023

3 жыл бұрын

Tories are very very FOOLISH

@simonblack8384

3 жыл бұрын

Was just thinking the same. If he was the face of England the UK union would be safe

" The great game".....best doccie on afghanistan ive ever seen. Rory Stewart.

19 August 2011, this seems more than a little prescient ...

Wow!! What an amazing intellect. In a parallel universe this guy is our PM and life and world security is so much different. Outstanding Mr Stewart.

Time to book this guy again TED.

As an Afghan you have my respect🙏

Ooops. Anyone else here from August 2021? 🤦‍♂️

@anarasi

2 жыл бұрын

October 2021

This is so awesome. I was pessimistic about this at first, but he impressed me.

this guy knows what he is talkinga bout, he is pin point accurate of his evaluation on afghanistan.. The greedy corporations with their contracts ruined the security in afghanistan.. the taliban didn't fight but what lead them to fight and pick up arms were because of indiscriminate Ariel bombardment. The simple thing to do with afghanistan was not do much but very little in political settlement and good infrastructural development.

This lecture was ten years ago and we just left. 😲 shocker

Listening to this in 2021, 10 years after his speech, is sad. Our ("western") political system is fundamentally flawed, if such candid, hands-on, informed, brave and humble people get sidelined, not elected. I hope I am wrong and we will see his comeback.

I appreciate you on behalf of every Afghans for bringing the truth out about my beloved homeland. ❤we afghans respect every human being❤ every religion ❤ every ethnicity ❤

@ahmedrahmani6670

6 жыл бұрын

This man he know what He is talking about he Went to my country He. Is brave man even Most of afghan men Escret to go to Afghanistan what more can I say I hope some day Peace sttel in my country Eungh is eungh

@Ulqiniflorini1963

4 жыл бұрын

Although I appreciate your sentiment for your homeland as everyone should . I am not sure that Afghanis respect every religion and every human being, let alone every ethnicity !!! Having said that , I have no issues with Afghanistan being left alone to mind their own affairs !!!

@Comedypark9

4 жыл бұрын

If you respected all humans then why did the Taliban support a man who killed 3000 Americans and if Afghanistan was so loving towards humans then why do they enforce laws that sometimes call for women and men being beating or killed isn't there a famous soccer field in Afghanistan that was used by the Taliban too execute humans

@eatmypeacock6397

4 жыл бұрын

@@Comedypark9 02:55 Listen again. What do you believe that the meaning of "ALL"?

@silverace08

3 жыл бұрын

@@Comedypark9 you cannot equate afghanistanis to the taliban, thats like equating americans to white supremacists.

Dear Rory Stewart me as an Afghan young really appreciate your solution for ending this tragedy

@Longtack55

2 жыл бұрын

How do you feel about the present situation?

Aug 18th 2021, today, watching this, everyone knows now at least this man were right about a thing or two. Key messages: there are many paths between all-in or all-out, and with troops, employees on the ground of afghan but not speaking the lauguage, is a indication of how much you understand and can actually help. be humble. one's hot bloodness can harm others not saving others.

UK got kicked out of Afghanistan... again! He needs to do a follow up talk.

@TheLewisLegend

2 жыл бұрын

Nope, British troops had left by 2014. A small contingent rained with the permission of the Afghan government. Recent events are purely down to the US government

This is th Best Words I have Hier it about My kntry TnX Rory Stewart

I honestly never thought I would say this about a Tory, but I would vote for Rory Stewart. He must have sat in despair in Westminster at the muppets around him.

@yasminanjum3310

2 жыл бұрын

Sadly Rory is not in Govt as Boris threw him out on 3rd Sept 2019 with 20 others who had decades of experience in parliament between them. Boris wrote to Rory's local Conservative Association warning them not to have Rory back or back him in anything. Rory resigned from the Conservative Party or should I call it the Boris/ERG party on 3rd October 2019. He did not run in the general election in 2019.

@robinsanders5541

2 жыл бұрын

One of the great “should have beens” In British politics.

What an insight and vision...This man had said everything what happens today in Afghanistan atleast 10 years ago..amazing..

While i respect he studied afghanistan and is generally correct, he did get the part about taliban not taking over the country wrong.

@philguy8563

2 жыл бұрын

To be fair, he did concede he could be wrong about that.

@jaredlind2888

2 жыл бұрын

For the record, he said it is unlikely that they should take over the country via military force. The government abandoned it's post and the Taliban walked in.

@ibidthefrog

2 жыл бұрын

In fairness who would have predicted this a decade ago

@yaseenmohammad9600

2 жыл бұрын

well he did account for it by saying that "even if i am wrong about taliban taking over" in next statement, his point primarily was that taliban does not pose threat to america any longer from the point of terrorism even if they take over the country and rejoined with alqaeda.

The best Prime Minister Britain never had.

@finnersmcspeed5646

2 жыл бұрын

He's just another privately educated wanker

@pierangelocangialosi3540

2 жыл бұрын

I agree

@pierangelocangialosi3540

2 жыл бұрын

I agree he would be a great PM

@robinsanders5541

2 жыл бұрын

@@Millie.com232 I think his talking about “a small footprint” has been pretty much consistent.

danke liebe Katja für die Übersetzung

Wow he is a great speaker. And I learned a lot from this. Good show.

"If we can often do much less than we pretend, we can do much more than we fear"

"It is extremely unlikely the Taliban would be able to take over the country. It is extremely unlikely they would cease Kabul" 3:07

@freemanol

2 жыл бұрын

That was in 2011. His point is exactly that the strategy was emboldening the taliban. If you put more troops and fuel corruption in a country whose population mostly don’t want you to be there, you’d be strengthening the determination of those who want to “liberate” their country. His point about humility is what westerners don’t usually get. You are overly confident of your own analysis, even when told otherwise by people who are infinitely more qualified than you are.

8:57 "decisive year!"

This is a beautiful speech.

My God, this guy's metaphore was awesome.

Fantastic Talk

1:55 This aged well and is a fact now..

That's a heavy machine gun not a sub machine gun Rory but you did identify Beckham correctly.

@catinthehat906

2 жыл бұрын

I thought the same, how much does this guy know about the military if he thinks what looks like a 50 cal is a submachine gun?

@gaiagale i'd love to try and clear this up but i'm unsure which post / issues you are referring to

The great game. must watch documentory.

Brilliant guy!

Congratulations to all those commenting ‘this aged well’ on completely missing the point. I would suggest you listen to the whole presentation. You might actually learn something worthwhile.

@dubbaphatt3368

2 жыл бұрын

I like and respect Rory Stewart, but his main contention that the Taliban had no chance of retaking the country certainly hasn't aged well. I think he's just as hubristic as the Generals, just in a more palatable and humble way.

@flipfilfip

2 жыл бұрын

@@dubbaphatt3368 he’s speaking in 2011 not 2021. Completely different evaluation of taliban capabilities

@nnicollan

2 жыл бұрын

@@dubbaphatt3368 He was speaking in the context of having air support in Afghanistan. Now it's gone

@philomel1000

2 жыл бұрын

He is very clear that the problem was the huge amount of money that caused enormous corruption throughout the country and undermined consensus. And he says the Taliban didn't have the military hardware then that was true but where did the Taliban get their weaponry? from that supplied by the US.

brilliant!

Finally we arrived! 2021 is the decisive year... Peace and prosperity for the gallant and proud people of Afghanistan.

Let's get this guy back to lead the UK coherently. How can we do this?

@aliamjad5513

2 жыл бұрын

but now he is saying let's stay in Afghanistan :) Politicians!

@politicaled7247

2 жыл бұрын

To be fair, what he’s saying now is that the small force we had there was doing a sufficient job in keeping the taliban out of key regions with very little cost to the US/U.K. be it financial or in lives.

@sookibeulah9331

2 жыл бұрын

@@aliamjad5513 no if you listen to the entire TED talk you’ll hear his message then is the same as his message now: a very light touch where Western allies are simply aiding the Afghan government to hold back the Taliban (rather then fighting the Taliban themselves) is the best plan of action.

Very impactful talk. Because of this video I'm changing my name to Khomandan Walim Hajib Mhaksin Han Kalam Gee.

Still 7 years later!!

Mr Stewart was making great sense until he began as most interventionalist do beleiving that interventionalism itself isn't the problem, just that we aren't intervening the "right" way.

I never knew he was an intellectual. Big up Rory.

Lovely speaker. Such a rare thing.

Very astute assessment. A lot of new commenters are missing the point here; Stewart is saying that the 'war' - i.e. smashing tonnes of resources into a corrupt system over and above that the country is capable of sustaining won't work. Instead, you need to have a light touch presence; enough to prevent catastrophe but not enough to stifle the creativity/capability of the country itself.

Bravíssimo!

What is the word he uses at 13:00 ?

I read his books...really interesting. Def check out The Places In Between.

Is this the same Rory Stewart that’s just been interviewed by Politics Joe?

@jackdaniel9308

2 жыл бұрын

The KZread algorithm is smarter than most people

@smith5796

2 жыл бұрын

Yes. He said blame Biden rather than Trump. Interesting because it was Trump who originally got the ball rolling on the withdrawal. The things Rory says. Opinions and wind.

@sookibeulah9331

2 жыл бұрын

@@smith5796 sounds like to didn’t listen to the whole interview, just responded to the clickbait title. All Stewart said about Trump is that he believed Trump would have been persuaded to not actually pull out (ie is inconsistent and capricious)

@chriswatson3464

2 жыл бұрын

Yes

I wish mr rory should be the PM of uk. I am his fan now❤️👍🏻 he feels the sufferring of the innocent . He have a kind heart.

@maryearll3359

2 жыл бұрын

@Linda Marzuki - you are so right. He should have been listened to years ago. He has a good brain, supreme insight and knowledge and his huge heart must be feeling very heavy right now.

"If we can often do less much than we pretend, we can do much more than we fear". Nice quote in this context. I also think a mythbusters quote is appropriate: "Failure is always an option".

Man knew it since day!!!!

We need to listen to this man, watch on KZread, ' Afghanistan The Great Game ' both parts and the story of Lawrence of Arabia's docu and how he foresaw this mess and tried to warn governments. Meanwhile may peace and love find their way into people's hearts everywhere. ❤️😘

@vivekt.2038

2 жыл бұрын

I watch the whole part btw ,it was amazing.

@maryearll3359

2 жыл бұрын

@@vivekt.2038 I'm so glad to hear that. It makes sense of the nonsense. Try watching the docu on Lawrence of Arabia ( the title has left me, sorry! ), the whole thing will make even more sense. American soldiers who were being posted out to Afghanistan were told to read his book so it would help them make sense of what they would be dealing with. The issues are not new, sadly. Peace and love to you 😘

@joejensen3490

2 жыл бұрын

but he was completely wrong

Rory Stewart = Best People @ Good Boyz @ Brave Netizen . Street to talk about TRUTH . !!!

Howdy folks of 2021!

Need an update now from this expert please.

@ianstobie

2 жыл бұрын

Search on Rory Stewart New Statesman for recent interview

Brilliant, finally someone who understands

Rory's talk on Afghanistan was largely peripheral. He contrasted the problems in Afghanistan with the success of Bosnia and Kosovo while ignoring the elephant in the room: Bosnia and Kosovo were once part of _Yugoslavia._

@silverace08

3 жыл бұрын

while i do agree with you on the bosnia kosovo yugoslavia bit which i also felt, he knows a lot about afghanistan which is not reflected in this short 20min ted talk aimed at the general public, watch his documentary afghanistan the great game

In light of the latest development, Rory under estimated the Taliban and the determination of the Afghans to be independent and be a sovereign country. But the US regime and its allies actual reasons to invade Afghanistan were fraudulent and unjustified in the first place.

@agumualiuspumm1331

Жыл бұрын

Yes, but maintaining the functioning of a real country has hugely limited the Taliban's capability in expanding global terrorism because it has become a much more visible and, in the meantime, much more vulnerable target for repercussions.

@stephenlock7236

Жыл бұрын

@@agumualiuspumm1331 You have conveniently forgotten that the collective west, the US in particular, are the ones who nurtured the Taliban in the first place. There wouldn't be a Taliban without the US godfather.

Well, thing have changed. Thanks for your help. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!!

wow, so glad to see an intelligent and humble politician. Ron Paul has some company, though not in his country it seems !!

why does this only have ~90k views?

if we do less than we pretend - we can do more than we fear

I know this lecture is supposed to be serious and all, but that photo of the guy with the mobile phone at 5:11 is just hilarious xD

@junaidnoorim : my mistake, I got the strong impression he was essentially calling for withdrawl. Looking at the comments, I wasn't the only one. From the way you write, perhaps you know him personally? I've read a book of his, and seen him on television. I remember reading a newspaper article on Stewart from shortly before the events 10 years ago.

And for the record, the guy in the video has more credibility than you'll probably ever have. Stop reading Atlas Shrugged. "Intellectuals" aren't out to get you. Many of them ARE in fact silly, pompous, hypocritical...even fraudulent. But that's no reason to celebrate anti-intellectualism in itself. I read this mans books on his hike in Afghanistan and his governorship in southern Iraq several years ago. He's a good writer and a sharp guy.

@mazdaplz You're right, but this talk isn't about what we did wrong (as he says in the beginning, we shouldn't be asking why we went in, we should be asking what are we still doing there) He's offering a reasonable solution. You're just reiterating the problem.

He speaks sense and good vision.

@werwr4 Well I do agree with him that the war needs to end. I'm from Finland so I'm not in directly involved, although we do have some troops over there too. I have served in the finnish army, but I just did the compulsory 6 months and haven't been overseas or anything

@johnnysecular I'm not in between either. I'm sort of a necessity/utilitarian type. In general ,and not referring to any specific conflicts in human history, I think a war needs to be fought if it must. Or if it's useful to do so (I do realize this may seem amoral, but say resources are scarce and my country and I will die if I do not fight for said resource, and if I can do so surgically without vast bloodshed or prolonged conflict, I sure as hell will).

Very very true!

I remember Rory Stewart speaking on this topic in Fairbanks in 2008. It's fascinating to see how back his sentiment has evolved from a tentative conclusion that the US shouldn't be involved in Afghanistan and Iraq anymore to the much more strident case he lays out here. I suppose the issue has become more pressing as the years have passed with little meaningful progress.

@NazAndOmi Thank you. I understood the context. It's just that word is new to me, and I couldn't for the life of me spell it out :)

He is absolutely correct on Libya. It's very frustrating to see this going on.

@gariadara No it's not clear cut. I understand the balanced in between position but I'm very much opposed to it.

The drummer from the Gorillaz grew up :-)

@politicaled7247

2 жыл бұрын

The drummer from Gorillaz is black?

@jaixzz

2 жыл бұрын

Very😎drôle

This guy talks sense

cmon TED wheres my 1080p-eeze??? thats definitely an idea worth spreading to the uploader

this means completely different now

Rory Stewart is one to watch for the future in british politic. Watch his Documentary : Afghanistan The Great Game.

@Jay_Johnson

2 жыл бұрын

nah. He's too sensible for the Tories they kicked him out of the party for opposing hard Brexit.

@Khyrid clearly

@johnnysecular Cont'd from my last post: Or if we can do so peacefully without fighting. Or maybe this is exactly the kind of "balanced in between position" you were referring to.

words cost nothing

@cruelbusiness1984 Nah, I'm not going to engage in a youtube comments discussion. Just wanted to get a thought out. I see your point, though.

Powerful Bryan Callen

3:07....Aged this well did not.

"Oh we intervened" what bull, I remember the UN while the war was in my country (1991), allied troops generally guarded stuff and did nothing for the massacring of civilians a few miles away. Nobody comes to help, you just come to keep peoples mind at ease

@ChewbacaChunx ironic, considering he used to be an officer in the infantry...

Well that changed

@gariadara I keep crying cause unfortunately it's not the last war. Even Vietnam with all its atrocities is till looked at as a war with good intentions that went horribly bad. If the people in power don't acknowledge that Vietnam and Afghanistan were fundamentally wrong to wage, they will keep waging wars under all sorts of pretexts. Rory Stewart is a moderate, but I want to see pacifists. Not defending the Taliban, not denying the progress. But credit for the progress goes least to the armies.

World need to listen to him in order to put an end to ongoing tensions in afganishtan.

Well, the first impossible thing has happened. Wait for the other two.

Good talk but 1) another 20 minute talk that could have been 5 minutes and 2) TED: where EVERY talk gets a standing ovation