Despite sustained international condemnation and relative diplomatic isolation, the Taliban government is likely to remain in power for the foreseeable future.

Once the backbone of Afghanistan’s rural economy and a pillar of the global heroin trade, the opium sector is now in retreat, reshaping drug markets and security dynamics across the wider region.

Shifts in Asian geopolitics are creating new opportunities for Afghanistan, but administrative and security challenges must be overcome for Kabul to take full advantage of them.

A return of the Bagram Air Base remains highly unlikely, but movement in this direction reflects a tentative warming in US-Afghan ties.

Russia’s Taliban recognition could be the start of a trend; however, Afghanistan’s (partial) reintegration into the diplomatic mainstream will add a new layer of complexity to Central Asian geopolitics.

The Trans-Afghan Railway stands as a transformative project for Eurasian trade, representing a strategic corridor that bypasses traditional chokepoints and redefines connectivity from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean.

The Taliban leadership is seeking to leverage Afghanistan’s considerable mineral wealth in a comprehensive effort to gain wider diplomatic recognition for the regime.

Examining the historical and geopolitical factors driving increased extremism in Pakistan.

Conventional assessments of the Pashtunwali social code and the history of the Pashtun region tend to overlook the geopolitical and colonial factors that fueled the rise of terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Those advocating for Taliban recognition must consider the ongoing renaissance of al-Qaeda, a process that is being actively facilitated by the regime.

The latest UN General Assembly shed some light on one of the few humanitarian organizations still operating in Afghanistan.

The recent Zawahiri killing highlights how hard it is for Washington to completely quit the region.

Ten months in, the Taliban consolidates its rule while normal Afghans try to survive amid economic devastation.

The Taliban is systematically curtailing the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, but there are policy options available to the international community.

The geopolitical context has changed between 2001 and 2021, and thus we should expect a different foreign policy from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Three geoeconomic factors will determine the future of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan: opium, natural resources, and regional trade networks.

Various geopolitical pressures are set to produce a more moderate Taliban regime in the short-term – but sharia remains a red line.

Doha has spent years building political capital with the Taliban. Now it will have an opportunity to spend it.

The new geopolitical reality on China’s borders could trade short-term pain for long-term gain.

The fall of Kabul is causing some to question Washington’s commitment to its East Asian allies.