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Afghanistan under Taliban rule: Policy recommendations for Indonesia’s constructive engagement

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Following Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, Taliban has promised to respect women’s rights, form an inclusive government, and not allow Afghan soil to be used as a base for attacking other countries. The international community, however, soon found that Taliban’s policies turned contradictory to its promises, reflected in Taliban’s decision to continue suspending secondary schools and university classes for Afghan girls and form an interim cabinet that was all male and dominated by ethnic Pashtuns.

Responding to Taliban’s new rule and worsening situation in Afghanistan, the international community has chosen engagement (rather than disengagement) as their policy line. Many countries have engaged with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in a variety of ways and with different degrees, although no country has recognized Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Indonesia too has been engaging constructively with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan aimed to support the Afghan people and encourage Taliban to fulfill its promises.

By examining factors and dynamics that influence Taliban’s rule, the paper found that that there are potential driving forces for Taliban’s possible change of attitude that need to be further empowered to drive the real change of Taliban. These include the existence of pragmatists and more internationally oriented figures within Taliban and Taliban’s need to adapt as it transforms from insurgency to functioning authorities. While the threat to Taliban’s possible change of attitude could be those conservative figures such as Taliban’s Supreme Leader and his clique in Kandahar who increasingly emerge as Taliban’s ultimate authority.

Considering that Taliban shows no progress in fulfilling its promises, the international community including Indonesia needs to further strengthen their constructive engagement with a strategy that could ensure Taliban’s fulfilment of its promises. Since the issue of Afghan women’s rights to education has been the most pressing issue of concern, this paper recommends establishing an approach to Taliban’s leadership in Kandahar through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to encourage Taliban’s leadership to reverse the policy and reopened secondary schools and university classes for Afghan women.

In this regard, Indonesia could propose an OIC Special Envoys Mission to meet Taliban’s leadership in Kandahar, wherein Indonesia’s Special Envoy could be part of. While existing initiatives such the International Conference on Afghan Women’s Education, dialogue with Afghan ulemas and humanitarian aids could continue. Other policy recommendations for a long term period include engaging with pragmatists within Taliban, support the implementation of intra Afghan dialogue, and trade engagement with Taliban-led Afghanistan.

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Ketersediaan

2023-0033

Sesparlu 73-2023

Training Materials Repository

Tersedia

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

Sesparlu 73-2023

Penerbit

Jakarta : Kementerian Luar Negeri., 2023

Deskripsi Fisik

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Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

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Klasifikasi

NONE

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

-

Subjek

-

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

UPT Sekolah Staf dan Pimpinan Luar Negeri

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