The Taliban's Ideological Identity: Why International Policies Failed

## The Taliban's Return to Power: A Misunderstood Reality Five years have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, yet the international community's policies aimed at influencing their behavior have been largely ineffective. The Taliban's rule has been characterized by the exclusion of women from education, employment, and public life, as well as the restriction of civic space and fundamental rights. Despite this, the international community's main expectations and the hopes of many Afghans were not realized, leading to a fundamental question: why did so many international policies assume that the Taliban would change? The answer lies in the international community's analytical framework, which viewed the Taliban primarily as a political actor rather than an ideological movement. This framework was built on three core assumptions: that the Taliban understood concepts such as the state, legitimacy, peace, and human rights in the same way as the international community; that the transition of an armed movement from the battlefield to a peace process and eventually into government would transform it into an actor compatible with the principles of modern governance; and that the responsibilities of governing and the need to engage with the outside world would outweigh the group's ideological priorities. ## The Taliban as an Ideological Movement However, the Taliban's nature is fundamentally different from that of a political actor. As an ideological movement, the Taliban's primary objective is not to secure political power or become a political actor operating within the established rules of international politics and international relations. Rather, their goal is to establish an order rooted in their ideological beliefs, and governing is merely a means to achieve this end. The Taliban's ideology is based on a religious mission, and their legitimacy is measured not by the consent of citizens or international recognition, but by their fidelity to this mission. This means that many of their policies, which appear costly or irrational to foreign policymakers, are entirely consistent with the movement's internal logic. The exclusion of women from education, employment, and public life, for example, is not merely a matter of public policy, but an essential element of the order that the government is obliged to implement and protect. ## The Logic of States vs. the Taliban's Ideology The international community's analytical framework was ill-suited to understanding the Taliban's nature because it viewed the group through the logic of states, rather than as an ideological movement. This led to a fundamental misunderstanding of the Taliban's priorities and goals. The expectation that the responsibilities of governing or international pressure would move the Taliban away from their ideological priorities was based on a flawed assumption that governing would change the group. In reality, the Taliban viewed government as a means of transforming society according to their ideology, rather than as an end in itself. This means that the international community's policies, which were based on the assumption that the Taliban would change, were doomed to fail. The Taliban's ideological identity long pre-dated the Doha agreement, much less their return to power, and it is shaped through decades of religious education, war, leadership structures, religious networks, and the narrative through which the Taliban defined their religious legitimacy. ## Conclusion The Taliban's return to power has transformed the group's political status, but it has not changed their ideological identity. The international community's analytical framework, which viewed the Taliban as a political actor rather than an ideological movement, was ill-suited to understanding the group's nature. This led to a fundamental misunderstanding of the Taliban's priorities and goals, and the expectation that the responsibilities of governing or international pressure would move the group away from their ideological priorities was based on a flawed assumption. The international community must rethink its analytical framework and approach to understanding ideological movements like the Taliban if it hopes to design effective peace processes in future international crises.