2 Dec 2024
Central Asia’s Taliban thaw
A decision by Kazakhstan to remove the Taliban from a list of terrorism groups fits with a regional trend toward normalisation of relations.
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7 Nov 2024
The chance to reframe international engagement with Afghanistan
The present approach isn’t working, but this is a critical moment to chart a different course. -
10 Oct 2024
The cruelty in banning Afghan women from poetry
Another tool has been taken away by state-mandated isolation. -
19 Sep 2024
The Taliban’s gas pipedream
The much-hyped TAPI gas line faces too many blockages to be realistic. -
14 May 2024
Targeting girls education: Pakistan’s tribal areas suffer under Taliban influence
Schools are the best weapon against extremism, that’s why the militants fear them. -
19 Apr 2024
Afghan women: The silent victims of Taliban brutality
The Taliban is on a relentless mission to erase women from the political, economic, and societal discourse of Afghanistan. -
5 Apr 2024
Pakistan: The dangerous reality of working on China’s megaprojects
A spate of deadly insurgent attacks on Chinese nationals sends a message about vulnerability. -
9 Oct 2023
Pakistan intends to deport 1.7 million Afghans
Will global condemnation and financial default force Islamabad’s hand on refugees fleeing the Taliban regime? -
27 Sep 2023
The Kalash are under threat from Pakistani Taliban
A remote and persecuted religious minority is an easy target for militants set on gaining territory by any means. -
27 Sep 2023
Why humanitarian aid is vital to Afghanistan
Despite significant hurdles, aid has continued to bolster the country’s employment, education and banking sectors. -
1 Sep 2023
Can the Taliban contain Islamic State in Afghanistan?
Concerns are growing about spillover attacks further into the region. -
28 Jul 2023
Far from the limelight, forgotten Afghans continue the fight
Accounts from Kabul hold lessons on how easily the world moves on, and some takeaways for Ukraine. -
20 Jul 2023
The world needs a new plan to deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan
Saving lives is always complicated by politics. -
29 May 2023
Dealing with the Taliban to stop a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan
The basic needs of Afghans cannot be ignored. -
15 May 2023
China to the rescue, with peace plans for Saudi, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan – up to a point
These diplomatic gambits all carry a message. But conflict resolution isn’t necessarily the main one. -
21 Apr 2023
India still needs to work with Russia on Afghanistan
Proximity changes the priorities for India in a conflict on the doorstep. -
20 Apr 2023
Don’t reward the Taliban’s gender apartheid with recognition
Returning diplomats to Afghanistan would send a terrible message to women and girls that the world has given up on them. -
13 Apr 2023
The urgent humanitarian need to get diplomats back to Afghanistan
Aid workers are pressed enough to deliver much needed relief without a burden of also speaking for the global community. -
28 Mar 2023
India’s delicate dance with the Taliban
With Afghanistan’s China pivot proving disappointing, the Islamist group is reprising its relationship with New Delhi. -
17 Mar 2023
Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?
Three of the world’s most influential powers have skin in the game when it comes to preventing another civil war. -
16 Feb 2023
Is the tide turning on classroom bans for Afghan girls?
In Afghanistan, there is increasing dissatisfaction with the suspension of female higher education, even within the Taliban. -
14 Oct 2022
Enemies of education are back in Malala’s hometown?
Fresh attacks by the Pakistani Taliban mark an alarming regression in the decade-long progress made in the region. -
2 Aug 2022
Killing the al-Qaeda chief leaves endless questions
The US has declared justice after more than 20 years hunting Ayman al-Zawahiri. But a battle with extremism will go on. -
27 Jun 2022
India-Pakistan: regional rivalries still rule in Afghanistan
The visit of an Indian delegation for talks with the Taliban in Kabul has raised eyebrows in neighbouring Pakistan. -
6 May 2022
Australia can stand up for the Afghan people, and the time is now
Canberra should signal to the world that we’re all better off in a community of nations where human dignity matters. -
2 May 2022
Drones do the talking in Pakistan’s anti-terror offensive
Islamabad is tired of waiting for Afghanistan’s Taliban to control the TTP who have found safe haven across the border. -
30 Mar 2022
Russia’s effort to escape diplomatic isolation
Moscow may turn to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in Central Asia to prove its regional standing is intact. -
1 Feb 2022
Oslo talks expose the West’s Taliban dilemma
Trusting the fundamentalists to deliver aid would mean ignoring a record of past promises to respect rights. -
13 Jan 2022
The geopolitics of aiding the Taliban’s Afghanistan
Humanitarian assistance must be disentangled from concepts of political legitimacy in the country’s unfolding crisis. -
31 Dec 2021
Taliban takeover – Best of The Interpreter 2021
The US withdrawal was telegraphed months beforehand, but the speed of the Taliban advance still came as a shock. -
29 Nov 2021
The Doha accord and Taliban legitimacy
Afghanistan’s new government has a full deck of cards to play in the security concerns of regional neighbours. -
28 Sep 2021
Yemen: the search for leverage after Afghanistan
Islamists see advantage in a perceived reduction of America’s commitment to friends. Yemen could be the start. -
9 Sep 2021
An Afghan test leaves Australia’s principles wanting
A cricket match offered a field to engage on rights issues but instead the government further isolated the Taliban. -
7 Sep 2021
The evolving Taliban-ISK rivalry
With the US withdrawal, the Taliban must decide if cooperating with an old enemy could risk losing to a new one. -
6 Sep 2021
Turbulence, the Taliban, and Turkey’s role in Afghanistan’s future
A role supporting operations at Kabul airport looks to offer Recep Tayyip Erdoğan more risks than rewards. -
26 Aug 2021
Economic diplomacy: After Kabul, Australia looks to India
Australia has a lower war-to-aid ratio, but the US is more transparent about its failure against the Taliban. -
26 Aug 2021
What’s in a name? The Taliban and recognition under international law
Formal recognition as a legitimate government may be a bargaining chip to press the Taliban to respect human rights. -
25 Aug 2021
Afghanistan holds lessons for American power in Asia
The US will one day ask the same question about its presence in Asia that it did of Afghanistan: is it still worth it? -
24 Aug 2021
India fears a poison harvest from Afghanistan
The Taliban takeover forces a regional realignment and has left New Delhi wondering about its past investment. -
23 Aug 2021
The world must evacuate women police in Afghanistan
The international community trained local women to put their lives on the line but has now abandoned them to danger. -
19 Aug 2021
Decoding intelligence on Afghanistan
An official inquiry should answer much wider questions about the US mission than only those of the final few weeks. -
18 Aug 2021
Afghanistan’s collapse shifts strategic dynamics in South Asia
If the Taliban’s return is seen a plus for Pakistan, India appears to be the loser. -
17 Aug 2021
What to do after the Taliban take-over
The foreign troops might be gone but Afghanistan is still our responsibility. -
16 Aug 2021
Kabul has fallen and so have we
Defeat in Afghanistan is not only a military one, but of the commitment professed by the “international community”. -
16 Aug 2021
Afghanistan: the right time to leave
There was no “low cost” solution for the United States other than endless conflict. -
10 Aug 2021
Afghanistan: Russia faces its own risks and uncertainty
Regional instability, refugee flows, extremism, and zero appetite for warfare temper Russia’s stance on Afghanistan. -
5 Aug 2021
Is Pakistan fuelling a Taliban takeover?
The Afghan government points a finger at Pakistan in a tactic to divert attention from its own colossal failures. -
30 Jul 2021
China’s Afghan conundrum
Afghanistan is not reputed to be the “graveyard of empires” without reason. -
26 Jul 2021
Another proxy war in Afghanistan?
India and Pakistan both have deep ties to Afghanistan and as US troops withdraw, a fresh conflict may fill the void. -
13 Jul 2021
Afghanistan, Australia and the visa conundrum
What responsibility does the government have for those on the periphery of the Australian campaign in Afghanistan?