S3 Ep3: State Collapse and the Shrinking of Civic Space under the Taliban: The Politics of Knowledge in Afghanistan

In the aftermath of the Republic’s collapse, a lack of shared understanding of policy priorities and effective civic interventions is impeding development of pathways toward stability for Afghanistan. The situation has since deteriorated across all scores of human security under the Taliban, with concurrent human rights, humanitarian, and political crises. In this episode we look at how narratives of state failure, shaped largely by Western expertise, have overlooked and undermined the progress made by Afghans in healthcare, education, and economic stabilization. We argue that the outsized nature of the international intervention in Afghanistan, alongside a top-down approach to conflict resolution, has contributed to a misrepresentation of on-the-ground realities. Featuring Marika Theros and Sahar Halaimzai, both policy fellows at the LSE Conflict and Civicness Research Group (CCRG) and the co-directors of the Peacerep’s Afghanistan Research Network. Marika and Sahar in 2021 worked together on the creation and realization of the ‘trilateral 1.5 track dialogue’ at the Atlantic Council, bringing together US, European and Afghan stakeholders to develop an inclusive and longer-term strategic outlook on stability in Afghanistan.

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