"The Taliban’s Return and Afghanistan’s Cycles of Exclusion"
"History of Afghanistan is a history of regimes collapsing primarily due to their decisions to exclude 'others'. In most cases, the once defeated and excluded groups returned victorious only to exclude 'others'. As this vicious cycle of exclusion continued, so did the downfall of governments. By excluding political opposition, women, ethnic and religious minorities, and even educated and professionals from leadership positions, the Taliban have certainly indicated that they would risk repeating history. The recent surge of both civil and military movements such as the Panjshir resistance, the flag movement, women’s rights protests, and public outcry of resistance just days after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, has already begun to challenge the Taliban’s totalitarian rule."
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Speaker Bio
Dr. Bashir Mobasher is an assistant professor of political science, an adjunct faculty of law, a legal consultant, and an author. He is affiliated with the American University of Afghanistan, Western Washington University, Max Planck Institute of International Peace and the Rule of Law, and International IDEA. Previously, he has worked with the USAID’s rule of law project and INL’s legal education reform project. Dr. Bashir is an expert in constitutional law and electoral designs in divided societies. He has authored, reviewed, and supervised numerous research projects on constitutional law, electoral systems, peace and transition, and identity politics. His recent research projects are centered around Islam and constitutionalism, the voting rights of the displaced population, political decentralization, criminal justice and minorities, and divided legal systems. Bashir obtained his B.A. (2007) from the School of Law and Political Science at Kabul University and his LLM (2010) and Ph.D. (2017) from the University of Washington School of Law.