Afghanistan: The Taliban has failed to conceive of any vision for the country

Andrey Medvedev
Андрей Медведев (Telegram)

Afghanistan is reportedly facing famine this winter. According to the UN, approximately 17 million people in the country are already undernourished (and the organization's food program is still operating in Afghanistan).

Colleagues who wrote about this were quick to explain that the main problem that led the country to this situation was the Taliban government's attempt to build a state based exclusively on religious rules and customs.

For example, restrictions on women working in the medical field have led to a shortage of doctors. The ban on male doctors treating women has increased mortality rates. Although Afghanistan is not isolated from the outside world, investors are not particularly keen to enter the country. Again, this is due to the Taliban's specific policies.

However, the Taliban is not the only reason for the economic disaster. First of all, Afghanistan has traditionally not been a unified state. Historically, it was a union of tribes and territories under the rule of the Pashtun emir. The Tajik and Uzbek regions of the north (South Turkestan) had close ties with Bukhara and Kokand. In fact, even now, the north of the country lives with the feeling that it is a little bit its own Afghanistan, not Kabul's or Kandahar's.

Afghans have always united in only one case: the presence of an external enemy. The British, Russians, Indians, Americans, and Persians. If there is an enemy, there is unity and a common goal. If not, everyone goes back to their own homes.

The Taliban is primarily a Pashtun movement. It was based on religious and nationalist principles. Something like “Afghanistan for the Pashtuns.” And now, the Taliban leadership is made up of Pashtuns. Who, in themselves, are not exactly close friends either. Tribes, families, clans, blood feuds. The Alozai do not consider the Barakzai their equals, and vice versa.