Ashley Jackson and Rahmatullah Amiri
The Taliban’s system of shadow governance in Afghanistan and the experiences of civilians now living under Taliban rule are each well documented by both scholars and journalists. The precise policies that guide Taliban governance and the factors that have shaped these rules are little understood, however. This report, which is based on more than a hundred interviews with Taliban fighters and officials as well as with civilians living in areas under Taliban control, provides insights into how Taliban policy is made and implemented. Drawing on Taliban policy documents obtained through fieldwork and never before made public, it also elucidates key policies and structures that govern the movement.
The Taliban’s policymaking process is far from straightforward but not wholly unfamiliar. In general terms, policy is the result of a set of interrelated decisions taken by a range of actors regarding objectives and the best way to achieve them.1 Implementing policy adds another layer of internal bargaining and influence, wherein policy is shaped by multiple actors inside the organization, each with varying levels of agency and power, as well as by various interests.2 These actors interact not only with each other but also with those outside the organization. The more complex and varied these interactions are, the more complicated it becomes to isolate the factors that shape policy and its implementation. Rather than a purely rational or linear process, “the whole life of a policy is a chaos of purposes and accidents.
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