Who is Mullah Hasan Akhund? What does the Taliban’s choice of interim prime minister mean for Afghanistan?
By: Ali A. Olomi, Penn State The Taliban announced on Sept. 7, 2021, that Mullah Hasan Akhund has been appointed interim prime minister of Afghanistan. The decision comes more than two weeks after the militant Islamist group seized control of much of the country, including…
US Media Amplifies Afghan Chaos
This week’s stories focus on fallout from the media’s reporting on the events in Afghanistan, with a glance at the great Ben & Jerry’s controversy in Israel. Kabul, Afghanistan on 8/18/2021 © John Smith 2021 / Shutterstock By Peter Isackson The Daily Devil’s Dictionary appears today…
The Taliban wants the world’s trust. To achieve this, it will need to make some difficult choices
By: Niamatullah Ibrahimi, La Trobe University and Safiullah Taye, Deakin University “We want the world to trust us.” In the Taliban’s first press conference since seizing control of Afghanistan, this message was intended to allay fears of what a return to power could mean for…
How Joe Biden failed the people of Afghanistan — and tarnished US credibility around the world
William Maley, Australian National University In April 1961, just months after the young John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States, his reputation for expertise in foreign policy took a battering as a result of the Bay of Pigs fiasco,…
‘I feel suffocated’: Afghans are feeling hopeless, but there’s still a chance to preserve some rights
Nematullah Bizhan, Australian National University Two days ago, a close friend in Afghanistan told me Kabul seems like a graveyard. Silenced. Helpless. And hopeless. This reminds me of the empty streets and hopelessness during my time under the Taliban’s rule in the late 1990s. People…
Taliban surge across Afghanistan continues as four more cities fall
Insurgents control more than two-thirds of the country and are closing in on Kabul Luke Harding and agencies, 13 Aug 2021 The Taliban’s seemingly unstoppable advance across Afghanistan continued on Friday, as insurgents took control of four more provincial capitals, having on Thursday seized Kandahar and Herat,…
How ‘Afghan’ coats left Kabul for the fashion world and became a hippie must-have
Tim Bonyhady, Australian National University The London launch of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in May 1967 was a musical and fashion landmark. While the clothes worn by all four Beatles startled the journalists and disc jockeys, John Lennon stole the show. He wore…
Protecting education should be at the centre of peace negotiations in Afghanistan
Lauryn Oates, Royal Roads University and Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University The Taliban appeared to be walking away from peace talks with the Afghan government — until, at the end of May, they suddenly agreed to a proposed meeting in Istanbul. But they stipulated major constraints,…
‘Journalism is sacred work’: Afghanistan’s front line reporters
By Robyn Huang and Matt Reichel It was about 8am on a Monday morning in April 2018 when Bushra Seddique felt the multi-storey apartment building she was living in with her family in Kabul’s Shash Darak district shake. Smoke billowed from the street below. She barely had time to…
The Role Turkey Can Play in Afghanistan
Erdogan’s proposal to protect Kabul airport will require Turkey to reach separate agreements with the Afghan government and the Taliban. By Salim Cevik Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan caused waves at the NATO summit in June, announcing that Turkey would continue to protect Kabul airport following…