The Importance of Understanding Culture and Religion in Engaging with the Taliban
Preventing diplomatic breakdown between the Islamic Emirate
Photo by Mathias Reding
Following the Taliban's assumption of control in Afghanistan, the international community has struggled to engage meaningfully with their emarah or any other jihadist groups, statelets, or countries. However, this failure cannot be solely attributed to the Taliban; it reflects the broader issues that plagued the West's failed 20-year intervention in Afghanistan. Namely, a pervasive lack of understanding and recognition of the importance of culture and religion in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On May 1st and 2nd, the United Nations will hold a meeting with its member states' special representatives to Afghanistan to discuss how to interact with the Taliban. It is unlikely to result in any meaningful improvements in how we as a collective community can engage with an actor we don't fully understand. To do so would require the international community to reconsider the basis of its diplomatic relations, which is grounded in centuries worth of proscribed international law. As we discovered in the late 1990s when famine ravaged Afghanistan and the Taliban severed diplomatic communications, engagement with the Islamic Emirate becomes extraordinarily complicated when it is conducted on the basis of “normalistic” legal and diplomatic canon.
The Taliban, for their part, have stated clearly that they solely subscribe to their interpretation of a legal canon that predates the enlightenment era "Westphalian order" by a millennium, principally Sharia Law as understood by their own studious readings of the Quran. Rather than dogmatically abiding by our legalistic principles, the international community must look at where international law is compatible with the Taliban's Sharia Law. The Taliban have made it clear that they will not implement a constitution or codify laws in a way that the international community would recognize.
To engage with the Taliban successfully, as stewards of the international community, we must not only understand scholarly Islamic jurisprudence but also the specific nature of Deobandi-Pashtunism that the Taliban adhere to. It is simply not enough to recognize the broader divide between Sunni and Shi'a or even the narrower differences between Salafism and Wahabism. Attempting to engage in any other manner will likely fail. The Taliban successfully waged a 20-year war against the international community, backed by the full might of Western arms; they are unlikely to acquiesce to international demands via diplomatic pressure.
One of the international community's key demands from the Taliban is socioeconomic inclusivity, but it is altogether unclear what that actually means or how it would be feasible within the Islamic Emirate's power structures. Without a clear understanding of what inclusion means in this context, there is no hope of achieving it.
Negotiations in the face of cultural differences, differences in justice, or willingness towards violence require finding shared values and identifying individuals with whom to communicate. This applies to any negotiation, whether it's with the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación in Mexico, al-Shabaab in Somalia, or indeed the Taliban in Afghanistan.
We have adopted a markedly different manner towards our negotiations for the British Detainees from the custody of the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence. We've been told that the world is watching our approach. Presidium Network believes and can demonstrate that the detainment of Mr Cornwell and another "unnamed man" is the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding. It is a fact of geopolitical reality that Afghanistan under the Islamic Emirate will enforce its laws and customs, just as one would expect from any other government. As such, it is vital that NGOs operating in the country must be aware of the culture, avoid fraternizing or consuming alcohol, and respect local laws. Our approach is not one of coercion but one that is mindful of a country and region’s cultural and religious beliefs and recognizes the laws of the land.
The dominance of the West in the formulation of international law and its cultural superiority has made it less effective in engaging with other cultures. International law is crucial in governing how states interact with each other. I firmly believe in the body of law that comprises treaties such as the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights," but we need to be able to have discussions about its compatibility with the Taliban's Deobandi-Pashtun beliefs.
The detention of NGO workers such as Mr Cornwell and others makes it high-risk for NGOs to operate and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has set its redline with the ban on female NGO workers. The international community has set theirs with inclusion. We can see the perfect storm brewing in Afghanistan makes the cost of failure incalculably high. So far, Western diplomats have been "at a loss" as to how to cope with the diplomatic, legal and moral contradictions inherent to dealing with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Military intervention is not an option, and a continued failure to negotiate will make disengagement inevitable, potentially at a cost of millions of lives across Afghanistan. The country’s domestic food production is only adequate to feed some 20 million people (about half of Afghanistan’s population), and it’s impossible to understate the consequences for global security with millions suffering from hunger and who are dependent upon a newly centralized government.
The price of failure, for 38 million people is already incredibly high, as the West's diplomats have struggled to resolve critical issues with the Islamic Emirate. As we’re approaching an election cycle in the United States, with UNAMA indicating that it is considering leaving, a general exit from Afghanistan becomes not only feasible but likely. By the 2024 US presidential election, few people in the US electorate will remember or be influenced in their vote.
Leaving would be disastrous for the people of Afghanistan. After two years of failed diplomatic engagement, it is clear that the Taliban only ascribe to Sharia law and will not change their position. It is past time for the international community to stop making demands that cannot be enforced and start listening because the only other option will be to leave.
We are optimistic that our negotiations for the release of the British detainees will be successful, not just for the families involved, but also to establish a new tone and approach in interactions with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. We hope that new protocols can be established to resolve sensitive issues before they become impossible to resolve.