Link to Article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/22/pakistan-imran-khan-civil-war-afghanistan-taliban
Summary: Imran Khan, the current Pakistani Prime Minister, warns us of the high risk that a civil war will break out in Afghanistan if the current Taliban leadership is unable to form an inclusive government to govern Afghanistan. Khan told BBC network this on the matter, “If they do not have an inclusive government, and gradually it descends into a civil war, which if they do not include all the factions sooner or later [will happen], that too will impact Pakistan,” Khan and the country he represents is mainly concerned about the refugee and humanitarian crisis for when the war breaks out. He also bring up concerns about terrorism groups taking advantage of the civil war there to expand there influence and use it against Pakistan and other surrounding countries. The Taliban however has rejected any and all of Khan’s calls for change in the way they run the government. Mohammad Mobeen, A Taliban Leader, says this in response to Khan’s calls for change, “We have got freedom. Like Pakistan, we reserve the right to have our own system.” The Taliban also says that they will address international human right concerns only after formal recognition by those countries. Khan encouraged the world to engage with the Taliban’s interim government to prevent the collapse of Afghan structure.
Analysis The rule of the Taliban over Afghanistan has worried many but it seems that this worry is near its peak as many fear an incoming civil war that seems more likely by the day. If a civil war were to break out the amount of refugees would be too much for surrounding countries to handle especially with COVIDs different variants posing more of a threat than thought countries may begin to close their borders leaving these people with nowhere to escape the war that will overtake their country. There is also the risk of terrorism groups rising in power in this time. The concern mainly lies in that the current leaders of Afghanistan seem unfazed by these possibilities and they simply claim that they are just running it the way they want and think is best. There is also the comment of not addressing the human rights issues until official recognition, it makes you wonder what is going on in their country that they won’t disclose that kind of information.
How this relates to class: This shows us how major actors like Pakistan deal with a problem that isn’t in their country but could very well affect them. Because Pakistan is right next to Afghanistan it knows that any war and problems that have could easily spill over into Pakistani territory. The Refugee crisis especially could lead to serious problems for Pakistan. Pakistan tries to avoid these problems by using their power to encourage other countries to take the current leadership seriously and acknowledge them to keep the Afghan situation stable. They also use their power to try to get Afghanistan’s leadership to correct the mistakes they are making.