Taliban 2.0 and Afghanistan–Pakistan Relations

DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221130546
Published date01 December 2022
Date01 December 2022
Subject MatterResearch Articles
Research Article
Taliban 2.0 and
Afghanistan–Pakistan
Relations
Ejaz Hussain1
Abstract
Afghanistan remained at the centre stage of regional and global politics owing
to its unique geopolitical location in the Cold War period. Afghan jihad of
the 1980s impacted not only Afghanistan but also its neighbours particularly
Pakistan. In the post-Cold War period, civil war engulfed the war-ravaged and
poverty-stricken country which was controlled by the Taliban in 1996. Pakistan
recognised the Taliban rule which was ended by the American military might
in the wake of 9/11. In the post-Taliban period, the USA-led NATO alliance
experimented a Western-style political and economic order in tradition-bound
Afghanistan. Paradoxically, after 20 years, different political personalities and
presidential terms failed to stabilise the country. Since the Obama years the
USA seemed more interested in Indo-Pacific than West Asia. Hence, it opted
to withdraw from Afghanistan while doing a deal with the Taliban in Doha
in February 2020. The withdrawal policy was operationalised by the Biden
Administration. Since 15 August 2021 Afghanistan has been under the Taliban
control for the second time, hence, it is termed Taliban 2.0 by this study. Compared
to their first regime, the Taliban 2.0 has not been formally recognised by any
country so far. Will the Taliban gain regional, if not, international recognition in
the foreseeable future? Will Pakistan aid the Taliban in this respect? To what
extent intra-Taliban friction impacts bilateral relations? How does Pakistan
view Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and vice versa? And, above all, how will
Afghanistan and Pakistan treat each other in the coming months? These are
some crucial questions that this study attempts to address underpinned by
primary and secondary sources.
Keywords
Afghanistan, Taliban 2.0, Pakistan, India, China, USA
Journal of Asian Security
and International Affairs
9(3) 462–474, 2022
© The Author(s) 2022
Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/23477970221130546
journals.sagepub.com/home/aia
1 Department of Social Sciences, Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan
Corresponding author:
Ejaz Hussain, Department of Social Sciences, Lahore School of Economics, Burki Road, Lahore 53200,
Pakistan.
E-mail: ejaz_hussain@outlook.com

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