When the Taliban were last in full control of Afghanistan two decades ago, they led a pariah state that gained a reputation for repression and brutality of women and ethnic and religious minorities.
The isolated regime was shunned by much of the world and recognized by just three countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Ultimately it was toppled in a 2001 U.S. invasion.
Although top Taliban leaders have been on a whirlwind tour of regional capitals in recent weeks seeking broader international support from China, Russia and Iran, among others, experts say there is little else to distinguish the Taliban of 2001 from the Taliban of 2021.
“They have not changed at all ideologically,” says Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the U.S. who is now director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute.
Meanwhile, many Afghans who aided the U.S. over 20 years of conflict but were unable to obtain visas to leave under a special State Department program face possible reprisals from the country’s new rulers.
Speaking at a recent U.N. Security Council meeting, Shaharzad Akbar, the chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said, “Millions of Afghans are living in terror to see what comes next.”
