Today, Thursday, Apr. 15, 2024, marks the three-year anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. For the past three years, Just Security has covered the unfolding situation in Afghanistan through various lenses, including analysis of international recognition of the Taliban, counterrorism and military strategy, women’s rights, human rights more broadly, and more. Our coverage features expert analysis, policy recommendations, and local voices.
Just Security most recently published, “Three Years on From Taliban’s Takeover, What’s Next Amid Afghanistan’s Impasse?,” by Ambassador Nasir A. Andisha, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan from 2015 to 2019 and current Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations.
We’ve compiled our most relevant coverage on the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan from the past three years, sorted by topic, below. Readers can also follow our Afghanistan and Taliban tags for continued coverage.
UN Membership, Recognition, and Diplomatic Relations:
- Invite Afghanistan’s Majority to the Table at Doha Envoy Talks, by Nasir A. Andisha (June 2024)
- Time for the United States to Rethink its Strategy for Afghanistan, by Timor Sharan (April 2023)
- Diplomatic Engagement with the Taliban: A Path Forward or a Black Hole?, by William Maley, Farkhondeh Akbari and Niamatullah Ibrahimi (April 2023)
- Terrorism Might Be the Least of Our Problems a Year After America’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan by Douglas London (August 2022)
- Between Legitimacy and Control: The Taliban’s Pursuit of Governmental Status,” by Federica Paddeu and Niko Pavlopoulos (September 2021)
- Expert Backgrounder: Recognition and the Taliban, by Tess Bridgeman and Ryan Goodman (August 2021)
Counterterrorism and Use of Military Force:
- Wake Up Call: UN Security Council’s Report on ISIS and al-Qaeda, by Tom Joscelyn (August 2024)
- Still at War: The Forever War Legal Paradigm in Afghanistan, by Laura Dickinson (April 2022) (See also the rest of Just Security’s “Still at War” Symposium)
Sanctions:
- America’s Sanctions Habit is Hurting Peacemaking by Delaney Simon (April 2024)
- Dollars Deployed: How the Weaponization of the U.S. Financial System Contributed to Afghanistan’s Collapse by Timor Sharan (August 2023)
Women’s Rights:
- UN Special Rapporteur Report on Afghanistan Adds to Momentum to Recognize Gender Apartheid as a Crime Against Humanity, by Azadah Raz Mohammad and Gissou Mia (June 2024)
- Hazara Women: How Gender and Ethnicity Intersect in the Taliban’s Repression, by Farkhondeh Akbari and Kobra Moradi (March 2024)
- Our series on gender apartheid in the Crimes against Humanity Treaty may also be of interest.
- The Taliban’s Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan Is Part Of – Not Separate From – Its Terrorist Links, by Nazifa Haqpal (August 2023)
- The Best Way to Mark the Anniversary of Taliban Takeover? Launch a Global Campaign Against Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan by Karima Benoune (August 2022)
Human Rights in General:
- Next UN Afghanistan Talks in Doha Must Hold Taliban to Account on Human Rights, by Lisa Curtis (June 2024)
- Provision of Healthcare by Islamist Armed Groups: Between Sharia and International Law, by Marta Furlan (June 2024)
- The U.N. Human Rights Council and the ICC Can Do More for Afghanistan, co-authored by Mohibullah Taib(October 2023)
- Afghan Evacuation and Resettlement: Two Years Later There’s Still Work To Do by R. Scott Adams (September 2023)
- The World Should Protect Afghan Refugees Fleeing the Taliban’s Oppression by Ambassador M. Ashraf Haidari (August 2022)
Readers may also be interested in Just Security’s summer 2021 series, Reflections on Afghanistan on the Eve of Withdrawal.