Anthony Hyman Memorial Lecture 2024 - The Taliban back in power

'Anthony Hyman Memorial Lecture 2024 - The Taliban back in power: Taking stock of the second Islamic Emirate' with Kate Clark was an event hosted by the SOAS Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus, sponsored by Central Asian Survey, on 14th March 2024.

As Afghanistan approaches the third anniversary of the Taliban’s capture of power, Kate Clark assesses the group’s record in government.

Drawing on her experience not only as a reporter during the first Islamic Emirate but also the two-decades of the Islamic Republic and the Western intervention that sustained it, she looks at how the Taliban have consolidated power, established their rule over the Afghan people, especially women and girls, used the state institutions they inherited from the Republic and enjoyed the ‘peace dividend’.

She focusses on the Taliban’s handling of the post-August 2021 economy, aid industry and public finances – their much touted ‘less corrupt’ approach to revenue collection, alongside various information black holes when it comes to spending and contracting. Finally, she circles back to the Taliban’s 2001 ousting and asks whether the nature of victory – or defeat – can carry the seeds of a new power cycle.

Further details: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/an...