Last year, on the 15th of August 15, 2021, the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan took over Kabul as a result, Ashraf Ghani, the then president of Afghanistan fled from the country. Today, the Taliban has completed one year of its reign. During this one year, the soil of Afghanistan has witnessed a number of positive and negative aspects. Despite obtaining few advantages, Afghanistan under the Taliban regime still faces a number of serious challenges in terms of economy, governance and social aspects.
Back in the mid-2021, when the Taliban came into power, many expected some serious resistance from the Afghan northern alliance in northern areas of Afghanistan. It was expected that Ahmad Massoud son of late Ahmad Shah Massoud and his allies will present serious defiance in Panjshir. However, it did not happen on a large scale and the Taliban successfully took control of Afghanistan throughout these days. Similarly, there is relative peace as compared to the previous regimes; as previously, the war-waged country faced awful bloodshed. Likewise, after capturing Kabul, the Taliban has gained massive military strength and they look more disciplined like a proper army.
Challenges faced by the Taliban administration
However, despite all these strengths, the government of the Taliban in Afghanistan still faces some serious economic, social and political challenges. For instance, the frail and bad economy of Afghanistan has gone towards the worst conditions in the era of the Taliban. After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the international community has abandoned Afghanistan in terms of providing economic aid which has pushed the conditions of common people to misery and economic wretchedness. Such economic hardships are a big trail for the Taliban government and after passing one year on treasury benches, the regime hasn’t passed such a trial yet.
More importantly, the 21st century is an era of globalization, cooperation and interconnectedness. No state can remain in isolation and it has to interact in the international arena in order to meet needs. When the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, it claimed a comprehensive roadmap for gaining international recognition. In the modern day, international recognition is important for a newborn government as the economic and social uplift is greatly linked with it.
However, the Taliban’s regime failed to impress the regional and global powers and not a single state has recognized it yet. Today, although there is some understanding with regional powers such as Pakistan, China and Russia on several matters, Afghanistan has been completely isolated on the diplomatic front; which brings serious difficulties for both the people and government of the land-locked South Asian state.
Similarly, under the government of the Taliban, people especially women face several social, economic, and educational challenges within Afghanistan. After coming in power, the Taliban government closed higher educational institutions and kept the large number of women deprived of education. After completing their education, these women could have contributed to a large extent to the economic development of Afghanistan. According to a report by UNICEF, approximately three million of women are deprived of education for the last twelve months.
If they were allowed to education; these women would add 5.4 billion US$ to the economy of Afghanistan. Keeping the mentioned facts in mind, it can be noticed that deprivation of women from education also brings major hurdles to the already fragile Afghanistan’s economy. This is probably one of the major challenges to the Taliban government in Afghanistan, and yet the authorities are not able to resolve it.
Moreover, when the Taliban took control of Kabul, they announced their interim government for only a few months. However, it has been one year and the Taliban are unable to bring a comprehensive and permanent government. Such political ambiguity in a country like Afghanistan creates more political uncertainty, which may lead to drastic consequences in the future.
The Taliban government needs inclusive and long-lasting policies on a both domestic and international levels. For this Taliban should abandon its war times approach and must call an intra-Afghan Dialogue in order to overcome both domestic and international challenges.
The writer currently works as a Research Associate at the International Parliamentarians’ Congress Islamabad. He has wide experience in writing for various newspapers and can be reached at barkatullahbarakaat@gmail.com. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.