Working with the Taliban would not legitimate its rule

Forty million Afghans were simply abandoned to an uncertain future — and millions have since fled the country as a result. Years of hard-won progress has been undone as women’s roles in Afghan society, media and politics have been diminished.

And indeed, things are getting worse for women. Recently, the Taliban leadership codified new laws banning women’s voices and bare faces in public, empowering their morality ministry to regulate personal conduct and impose penalties for violations. Although it remains uncertain whether all government institutions and ministries will enforce these laws, full implementation could erase women from public life in Afghanistan.

But Afghanistan is also a more complicated place than a first glance can reveal. I am still running Tolo TV, the largest television network in Afghanistan, and my colleagues are still working in our offices in Kabul. We face great difficulties, but we negotiate and fight for our space every day in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Tolo News continues to report the truth: Our journalists — including female colleagues — are still reporting across the country, and we have been demanding accountability more effectively than many had anticipated. So many brave colleagues working for homegrown media inside Afghanistan continue to prove every day that although not easy, it’s still possible to be an effective, independent journalist in Afghanistan.

We find the inspiration and the courage to carry on from stories like “Kar o Ebtekar,” a series about female Afghan entrepreneurs — one of our most watched programs this year, with an audience of over 20 million. One segment followed four young Afghan women who, after the Taliban barred them from attending university, pooled resources and expertise to start a small mushroom production business. The episode about a 27-year-old fish farmer in Bamian who overcame numerous setbacks and earned the support of her husband and her community garnered over 1 million views on Facebook alone. These women are scratching out success despite severe financial constraints and absence of institutional support. And the nation is hungry for their stories.

One of the most heartbreaking consequences of the Taliban’s return to power has been the ban on girls’ schooling after sixth grade. A generation of girls is being denied the opportunity to learn, grow and contribute to their society. To try to address this tragedy, my colleagues and I took a risk last year and started producing and broadcasting science and math programs for television, radio and online to improve the access to and quality of education for all Afghan students. The programs have reached millions across the country — and students, families and teachers are demanding more.

Since the collapse of the Afghan government, the United States and its allies have pursued a policy of isolating and punishing the Taliban. They seized Afghanistan’s central bank reserves and mostly limited aid to preventing outright famine. Unfortunately, coercing the Taliban has failed. The Taliban continues to pursue its unyielding social agenda, and it appears here to stay.

The United States and its allies need to recalibrate their policies to help Afghans today, not in some imaginary post-Taliban future. Taking a more pragmatic approach to engagement with the Taliban does not mean legitimizing its rule or ignoring its human rights abuses. Rather, it means recognizing that isolation and sanctions have done little to change the situation on the ground. A policy of conditional engagement could be more effective in encouraging positive changes.

There are countless ways to approach this goal. The United States could offer dialogue on a number of issues of mutual interest — civic projects, tax collection, reduced opium production and improved security — alongside targeted economic and development support. U.S. officials would have to travel to Afghanistan to monitor progress, but this would not entail officially recognizing the Taliban. Washington could open an office in Kabul to provide consular services for eligible Afghans, perhaps staffed by contractors or third-party nationals. There are still tens of thousands of Afghans eligible for U.S. visas, but caseload processing is painfully slow without people on the ground. To signal its concern for improving the Afghan economy, the United States should initiate a process to test the Afghan central bank’s effectiveness in managing monetary policy and help improve its capacity by encouraging Turkey, Qatar and Malaysia to train young Afghan bankers.

These kinds of initiatives would set up a lot of small tests — building confidence and a track record along the way. These kinds of measures could also help alleviate the poverty crisis, which disproportionately affects women and girls.

The Taliban’s politics is complex. It is not a monolithic movement even if dissent is well contained, with officials falling in line with decisions when they are decreed. As part of my job, I speak with Taliban officials aligned with various power centers within the movement. Ultimately, the pragmatic leaders and commanders know that they have the power to move toward a seat on the global table if they can offer improvements on human rights issues.

Afghanistan still has hope. By investing in Afghanistan’s development, supporting education and women’s empowerment, and engaging pragmatically with the Taliban, the United States and its allies can help build a more stable, prosperous and inclusive Afghanistan.