Episode 2: The Cloak and Kalashnikov Diplomacy - Mullahs, Militias and the Making of the Taliban Emirate Foreign Policy

In this episode of Talibanology, host Tamim Asey sits down with the brilliant Dr. Jennifer Murtazashvili, Director of the Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Informal Order and the State in Afghanistan. A leading thinker on governance and post-conflict statecraft, Dr. Murtazashvili brings deep insight into the intersection of local authority, foreign engagement and Afghan political futures.

Together, they explore the Taliban’s evolving foreign policy and ask:

•Does the Taliban have a grand strategy—or is it just playing whack-a-mole with the world?
•Who truly drives external relations—Kandahar clerics, Kabul-based technocrats, or the Haqqani network?

They map out the regional chessboard:
•How are Central Asia, China, Russia, and India recalibrating their engagement with the Emirate?
•Has Pakistan moved from patron to frustrated neighbour?

The conversation also covers:
•The role of Qatar and the UN as Western and U.S. conduits to the Taliban
•The evolving U.S. policy toward the Emirate post-withdrawal
•The status and potential role of the Afghan diaspora in shaping Afghanistan’s future

Finally, they confront the central question: Is the Taliban reformable, or simply waiting out global pressure with “strategic patience”?

A wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation you won’t want to miss.