The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan After the Americans Left
Since the fall of Kabul in 2021, the Taliban have effective control of Afghanistan—a scenario few Western commentators anticipated. But after a twenty-year-long bitter war against the Republic of Afghanistan, reestablishing control is a complex procedure. What is the Taliban’s strategy now that they’ve returned to power?
In this session, Dr. Hassan Abbas will examine the resurgent Taliban as ruptures between moderates and the hardliners in power continue to widen. The group is now facing debilitating threats—from humanitarian crises to the Islamic State in Khorasan—but also engaging on the world stage, particularly with China and central Asian states. Making considered use of sources and contacts in the region, and offering profiles of major Taliban leaders, his book “The Return of the Taliban” is the essential account of the movement as it develops and consolidates its grasp on Afghanistan.
The session will be moderated by Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy.
About the Speaker:
Hassan Abbas is Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Centre (NESA), National Defense University in Washington DC. His current research work focuses on building narratives for countering political and religious extremism & rule of law reforms in developing states.
Earlier, he served as professor and department chair at National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs (2011-2019) and as the Distinguished Quaid i Azam Professor at Columbia University (2009-2011). He held various fellowships including at Harvard Law School’s Islamic Legal Studies Program & Program on Negotiation (2002-04); the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (2005-09); Asia Society in New York as Bernard Schwartz fellow (2009-2011); and as a Carnegie fellow at the New America Foundation (2016-2018).
He appeared on various television news shows on CNN, Fox News, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose Show, MSNBC (Abrams Report and Hardball), C-Span (Washington Journal) and various programs on CBS, and NBC as an analyst on security related issues in South Asia and Middle East.
He has also testified before the Foreign Relations Committee, US House of Representatives on “Women fighting for Peace: Lessons for Today’s Conflicts” in 2016, and before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom at the U.S. Congress on “Protecting Houses of Worship and Holy Sites” in 2019. He delivered many keynote addresses in conferences and seminars including in Australia, China, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and United Kingdom.
His publications include The Taliban Revival: Violence and Extremism on the Pakistan – Afghanistan Frontier (Yale University Press, 2015); Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb: A Story of Defiance, Deterrence and Deviance (Oxford University Press, 2018) and most recently The Prophet’s Heir: The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib (Yale University Press, 2021).
