Insurgent Bureaucracy: How the Taliban Makes Policy

Speakers: Ashley Jackson, Associate Researcher at CSDRG and PhD candidate, War Studies, KCL and Rahmatullah Amiri, Senior Researcher, The Liaison Office

Discussant: Professor Mats Berdal, CSDRG, KCL.
Chair: Dr Kieran Mitton, CSDRG, KCL.

The Taliban today control more territory than at any point since 2001. In growing swathes of territory, the Taliban operates a shadow governance system. The precise policies that guide shadow Taliban governance, and processes by which the policies are created and implemented, are little understood. With the Taliban certain to play a role in the future of Afghanistan, understanding how they make decisions, and why, is more important than ever before. 

In this Conflict, Security and Development Research Group (CSDRG) event, Ashley Jackson and Rahmatullah Amiri will talk about their research on Taliban policymaking processes. Based on more than a hundred field interviews and Taliban documents, their work offers rare insight into Taliban decision-making processes and the factors that influence them. Their work illuminates the ways in which multiple actors—from the Taliban leadership to local commanders—have played a key role in creating and shaping the movement’s policy in critical areas such as heath, education, and targeting of civilians. The result is a patchwork of practices that the Taliban leadership has increasingly sought to exert control over and make more consistent. The speakers will explore the Taliban’s evolution over time, and what it means for Afghans living in areas under their control and influence. 

Ashley Jackson is an associate researcher with the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group at King’s College London and a PhD candidate in the War Studies department, focused on understanding insurgencies. She has published extensively on Afghanistan, and worked on the ground with NGOs and the UN. 

Rahmatullah Amiri, a senior researcher and analyst with The Liaison Office, focuses on social-political issues, security, armed non-state actors, peace and reconciliation, counter–violent extremism and humanitarian access.