The interim Taliban government in Afghanistan has been grappling for international recognition from at least one country for almost 2 years. They extended an olive branch to Russia and China.

The 2001 invasion and the following US occupation of the country, which lasted until 2021, left behind terrible, protracted consequences that can still be felt today. Seeing the example of Afghanistan, the world has clearly seen the ‘charms’ of US governance of the whole world.

Since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, on 15^th August 2021, world leaders have shown great concerns about women’s rights in the country. The interim Afghan Taliban government holds that the women’s rights issues are the internal issues of the country and the world has no right to meddle in its internal matters. However, Afghanistan is a signatory of multiple international treaties that bound it to provide equal rights to women and ensure human rights.

Afghanistan holds immense geopolitical significance in the global politics. The country has caught the attention of international powers and newspapers since the 9/11 plane crashes into the World Trade Center. Since then, it continued to remain in the headlines. However, Afghanistan has always been discussed as anything but a chessboard of global politics or a security threat to regional and global peace. These aspects hold significance in shaping the Afghan predicament, but the country’s internal dynamics are also responsible for chaos and turmoil in Afghanistan.

Despite the fact that Afghanistan has been left to its own devices since the withdrawal of American troops, local authorities have managed to keep the situation in the country under control. Having overcome a number of financial, organisational and humanitarian challenges, the Taliban movement is taking small steps towards creating a unique state model based on moderate Islam and Sharia law…

In the past few months, Pak-Afghan relations have witnessed severe strain due to rising terrorist attacks in Pakistan. TTP, BLA, and ISKP hold safe havens in Afghanistan. Both sides blamed each other for the security lapse. Pakistan even conducted aerial strikes in Afghanistan on the safe havens of TTP. The Taliban government in Afghanistan was reluctant to cooperate with Pakistan over this issue. However, both sides have recently decided on security cooperation over the issue of across-the-border terrorism…

On May 27-28, 2024, a delegation of the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan, headed by Vice-President Moulawi Rozi Mohammad Rashid, visited Moscow at the invitation of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (OIS RAS). This is the first visit of Afghan scientists to Russia after the Taliban came to power in August 2021.

The dawn of the 21^st century brought with it the decline of the US-led unipolar world order. For the first two decades, the United States demonstrated its brutal military might to rival states and non-state actors. The US-led War on Terror was one of its violent operations in the developing world. This war negatively affected the lives of the people of Afghanistan…

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 after the US withdrawal, the government has been struggling to gain international recognition. The United States and its Western allies, the self-proclaimed champions of human rights, have left the country in the lurch. The sanctions imposed by the West on Afghanistan are sparking a humanitarian crisis in the country. However, the West continues to penalize the people of Afghanistan through international institutions, while remaining oblivion to the plight of the people of the country…

On 18^th March 2024, Pakistan conducted airstrikes inside Afghanistan, targeting the sanctuaries of commanders of Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The attacks were conducted in retaliation to the suicide attack conducted on a military check post in North Waziristan, a Pakistani district located near the Pak-Afghan border, which resulted in the death of seven Pakistani soldiers. Pakistani officials have claimed the death of 8 terrorists in the retaliatory airstrikes…

The UN Security Council held its regular meeting on Afghanistan on 6 March. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Roza Otunbayeva, made a report and provided an update on political, humanitarian and human rights developments in the country since 1 December 2023. It is recalled that UNAMA’s mandate expires on 17 March this year. This fact has prompted the UN Security Council…

In 2023, Afghanistan experienced a limited return to economic growth and infrastructure development after several years of severing most existing ties. During the year, several significant international events occurred in Central Asia, resulting in increased global attention to the region, and a number of projects of Eurasian scale were initiated. At the end of 2023, it appears that there is a long-term interest from Afghanistan in participating in these projects…