Rare earth, hard choices: America’s Haqqani gambit in Afghanistan

Economic isolation is pushing Afghanistan deeper into crisis

Imran Khalid is a Karachi-based geostrategic analyst and freelance writer. More than three years after the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan is e

Rare earth, hard choices: America’s Haqqani gambit in Afghanistan

A realignment inside the Taliban, an unspoken preference for U.S. partnership and a recognition that isolation is a dead end — represents one of the few real openings since 2021.

Moscow’s Taliban Rapprochement: High-Risk Realpolitik

Late last week, the Russian Supreme Court lifted the ban on the Taliban’s activities in Russia and annulled the group’s terrorist designation, which had been in place since 2003. The Kremlin’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, affirmed that the court decision eliminates legal barriers to establishing formal relations between Moscow and the Taliban. In response, the Taliban, which has served as the de facto government of Afghanistan s…

Find David Izadifar's article here. Check out the summary of Foreign Policy issue 1/2025 here.

Exclusive: New details reveal Taliban, international community set rival demands in UN-led Afghanistan plan

The Taliban and the international community have each laid out three key demands in a new United Nations political initiative for Afghanistan, according to sources familiar with the talks. The yet-to-be-finalized plan gathers perspectives from both regional and Western actors and aims to chart a political path forward for the country after more than three years of Taliban rule. The sources, including sources from within the UN, have told Amu TV …