Bora BayraktarSADIKZADE, ALİ HÜMAYUN2023-08-102023-08-102022https://hdl.handle.net/11413/8706▪ Yüksek lisans tezi.Afghanistan is located at the crossroads between central and south Asia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. Due to its geographical position, Afghanistan has been a key country in Central Asia geographically, historically, culturally, and strategically. It borders Iran, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, which have rich energy resources. Situated at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia and China and the Middle East Afghanistan is on the middle corridor of Chinese belt and road. Due to its geopolitical characteristics, Afghanistan was subject to occupation in its history. At first, the country was exposed to Soviet occupation between 1979-1989 and then to the US occupation between 2001-2021. Al-Qaeda terrorist organization carried out many terrorist attacks around the world. The most important of these attacks is the 9/11/2001 attacks in which many innocent people lost their lives. The terrorist attack of 9/11 was the main cause of the US intervention in Afghanistan. The United States and NATO invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 by Al Qaeda, harbored by the Taliban. After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. President Jorge W. Bush unified the international community to participate in the fight against global war on terrorism to eradicate the sanctuary of Al- Qaida. Subsequently, counterterrorism became the core charter of Bush administration's foreign policy agenda which was stated in his National Security Strategy for Combating Terrorism 2003, known as Bush Doctrine. In 2009, Obama announced a new strategy that focuses on increasing unity in the country, and the counter-terrorism approach was replaced by the counter-resistance approach. Later, when he realized that the threat was not central, he explained the strategy of Afghanistan and Pakistan to disrupt, dismember, and defeat Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, in addition to establishing the Afghan National Security Forces. After the Obama presidency, President Donald Trump came to power and inherited a U.S. policy toward Afghanistan that was focusing on building Afghan security institutions and counterterrorism against a transnational threat. President Joe Biden in 2021, followed a different policy from other presidents and ended the occupation by withdrawing the American military forces in Afghanistan. Since the September 11 attacks, four presidents have changed in the United States. Although every president has implemented a new strategy regarding Afghanistan, it has resulted in failure. The invasion of Afghanistan, which started in 2001, ended in 2021. Therefore, this thesis aims to evaluate the US Policy in Afghanistan 2001-2021.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAfghanistanThe USAl-QaedaTalibanmasterThesis733166