As it has been nearly 3 years since the ‘fall of Kabul’ on August 15, 2021, Afghanistan continues to experience various humanitarian challenges, primarily with the loss of rights for women.

On December 22^nd, 2022, the Taliban banned women from attending universities. The Taliban’s “education ministry said its scholars had evaluated the university curriculum and environment, and attendance for girls would be suspended ‘until a suitable environment’ was provided.”

Furthermore, according to a recent report released by the UN, 68% of Afghan women reported to experiencing bad mental health and about 8% of the women said one girl they knew attempted suicide. The situation for Afghan women can be best described by Alison Davidian, the country representative for Afghanistan who said, “three years ago an Afghan women could technically decide to run for President. Now, she may not even be able to decide when to go and buy groceries.”

Nevertheless, external observers should refrain from seeing Afghanistan from the timeless perception of women wearing the blue niqab, since it ignores the agency of Afghan women. Additionally, one should avoid seeing Afghanistan as a mere ‘humanitarian object’ in which the West must intervene to ‘save Afghan women.’

In addition to the restrictions on women’s rights, Afghanistan is currently grappling with a severe economic crisis, leading to fears that the country is at risk of starvation. According to report released by Save the Children in May 2024, about 2.4 million children will experience emergency levels of hunger, which is one level below famine. However, the problem for Afghanistan is a not necessarily a food shortage, but with the ability to afford it. “Importers are struggling to pay for goods, humanitarian groups are facing problems with basic operations, and the Afghan diaspora can’t send enough money to their relatives and friends. Millions of hungry Afghans are experiencing the abysmal reality of seeing food at the market but being unable to purchase it.”

Aside from the humanitarian crises, these three years have demonstrated that the notion of a ‘Taliban 2.0’ is false. At the core, the Taliban cannot be changed since they are an ideologically driven organization. Like the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (Afghanistan’s communist party), the Taliban’s central claim for political legitimacy is its ideology. However, it would be simplistic to assume that the Taliban have an easy time governing in the long run.

As with past Afghan kings and presidents, the moment a group becomes the “state,” it redefines its relations with Afghan society. For example, in 2023, a member of the Taliban needed driving assistance in Kabul. However, “an elderly man who’d paused in his old Corolla to tell him he shouldn’t need help because he was supposed to be running the nation.”

Regarding the current status of diplomatic recognition, while no country has given official de jure recognition, aside from China, many of Afghanistan’s neighbors, such as Russia and Iran, have given unofficial de facto recognition. The reason why countries like China, Iran, Russia, and even India recognize the Taliban, officially or unofficially, is to pressure the group into ensuring that no organization will use Afghan soil to launch attacks on their countries.

While the Taliban have repeatedly insisted that Afghan soil won’t be used to launch attacks into other countries, recent ISIS-K attacks in Iran and Russia illustrate two primary challenges. First, the Taliban can’t completely prevent groups like ISIS-K from launching attacks. Second, the Taliban have not completely disassociated themselves from various transnational terrorist organizations.

Nevertheless, the Taliban will have extreme challenges to run the government without foreign aid, which was a precedent established ever since the Anglo-Afghan Wars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For Afghanistan to get foreign aid, the international community would have to recognize the current government. However, gaining official international recognition is highly unlikely given the Taliban’s refusal to accept basic human rights.