History does not begin in 2001. There were a lot of invasions which devastated the region, and they went both ways. The Hindu Kush mountains are often described as "Hindu killer" in India, because of how many Indian slaves lost their lives when being forcibly transported over them.

Maybe the whole region would have been better off if it stayed Buddhist.

"Well, ask people in Kabul how they feel about Ostrava compared to where they live."

If "being visibly more developed than Kabul" is the same as "Capitol of global capitalism", then global capitalism did a good job lifting people out of poverty. Because at least a few billion people live in a way that, from Kabul, will look attractive. Even most of India is now developed well beyond Kabul standards.