In their first year in power, Taliban leaders have prioritized maintaining the group’s internal cohesion and demonstrating their authority domestically. They re-established their Islamic Emirate and resisted calls for greater inclusion of women, ethnic minorities and non-Taliban figures in their “caretaker” government comprised solely of their own members. Yet the need to manage internal rivalries will likely pose an ongoing challenge to the Taliban without a common, foreign enemy to fight. The group must also establish some measure of political legitimacy for its government and navigate a landscape of state-society relations that have transformed since 2001. 

This collection of papers examines the Taliban as an insurgency and now as a nascent government through an exploration of the organization’s military, political and ideological orientations and experience — both on their own terms and in comparison with other relevant cases.

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Service Delivery in Taliban Areas report cover

Service Delivery in Taliban Areas

By Scott Smith

This report examines how the Taliban provide education, health, and other services to people who live in areas where they are the dominant power.