Taliban as an Ethno-Nationalist Project

Abstract

Afghanistan is a country with diverse ethnic groups, different linguistic, sectarian, and cultural variations. The Taliban started their operation and succeeded to overthrow first the President Rabbani led government in 1996 and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. In reaction to Al-Qaida attack on the U.S., U.S. and its NATO allies invaded Afghanistan and abolished the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in 2001. In the twenty years of U.S. invasion, connectivity increased among people. All ethnic and religious groups started to build close relationships with each other in big cities. They relatively enjoyed certain level of presence and participation at various levels of government and decision-making roles. After, decades if not centuries, all segments of Afghan society could see themselves on the right track for progress. However, with Afghanistan’s collapse, once again Taliban established a non-inclusive government. Many ethnic and religious groups, women, political parties, civil society, and other social groups are excluded from government. With the important role inclusivity plays in fragile contexts, it is puzzling that why the Taliban with a religious claim has failed to demonstrate the formation of an inclusive government in an Islamic country. Hence, this paper will look at factors preventing Taliban from promoting and practicing an inclusive government, the interplay between religion and nationalism in Taliban’s government, and whether the Taliban’s source of legitimacy is based on ethnic affiliations or religious. This thesis argues that Taliban are an ethno-nationalist group and their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government is engaged with public on ethnic grounds than religious.