Taliban and Afghanistan; a Systematic Literature Review


Fisher Zulkarnain(1), Muhammad Salman Abidin(2*), Putri Habibah Abidin(3)

(1) Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia 40614, Indonesia
(2) Department of Communication and Islamic Broadcasting, Postgraduate Program, Universitas Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia 40292, Indonesia
(3) Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Padjajaran, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia 45363, Indonesia
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


This systematic literature review aims to enhance our understanding of the Taliban activities in Afghanistan and broaden our knowledge of the associated phenomenon. We employed a Systematic Literature Review protocol and sourced our data from the Scopus index, yielding 164 articles from which 91 were selected following a filtration process. Our analysis reveals that the resurgence of the Taliban and its organizational dynamics over the past four decades have had a significant impact on Afghanistan and its citizens. The majority of the studies in our dataset (52 articles) approached the phenomenon from a political perspective, with health issues being the second most explored topic (17 articles). The data collected in this study indicates that the majority of the literature discussing the Taliban and Afghanistan was qualitative in nature (89 articles). Our results suggest that the Taliban's current influence in Afghanistan is only weakly linked to religious motivations, contrary to the common media portrayal. Only a small number of studies in our dataset (3.29%, n=3) explored the ideological basis of the phenomenon. This paper underscores the need for further research to address the pressing political and health issues faced by the Afghan people and highlights the potential benefits of improved political stability and increased access to healthcare facilities.


Keywords


Taliban, Afghanistan, Systematic Literature Review

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adeney, K. (2008). Constitutional design and the political salience of “community” identity in Afghanistan: Prospects for the emergence of ethnic conflicts in the post-Taliban era. Asian Survey, 48(4), 535–557. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2008.48.4.535

Alvi-Aziz, H. (2008). A progress report on women’s education in post-Taliban Afghanistan. In International Journal of Lifelong Education (Vol. 27, Issue 2, pp. 169–178). https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370801936333

Bacon, T. (2018a). Slipping the leash? Pakistan’s relationship with the Afghan Taliban. Survival, 60(5), 159–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/10.1080/00396338.2018.1518379

Bacon, T. (2018b). Slipping the Leash? Pakistan’s Relationship with the Afghan Taliban. In Survival (Vol. 60, Issue 5, pp. 159–180). https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2018.1518379

Baczko, A. (2016). Legal Rule and Tribal Politics: The US Army and the Taliban in Afghanistan (2001–13). Development and Change, 47(6), 1412–1433. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12276

Bahar, H. M. (2020). Social media and disinformation in war propaganda: how Afghan government and the Taliban use Twitter. Media Asia, 47(1–2), 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2020.1822634

Barzegar, K. (2014). Iran’s Foreign Policy in Post-Taliban Afghanistan. Washington Quarterly, 37(2), 119–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163660x.2014.926213

Basu, P. P. (2007). India and post-Taliban Afghanistan: Stakes, opportunities and challenges. India Quarterly, 63(3), 84–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/097492840706300304

Behuria, A., Ul Hassan, Y., & Saroha, S. (2019). Us-taliban talks for afghan peace: complexities galore. Strategic Analysis, 43(2), 126–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2019.1595483

Blum, R. W., Li, M., Pasha, O., Rao, C., & Natiq, K. (2019). Coming of Age in the Shadow of the Taliban: Education, Child Marriage, and the Future of Afghanistan From the Perspectives of Adolescents and Their Parents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 64(3), 370–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.09.014

Bohannon, J. (2012). Can Afghan Universities recover from war, Taliban, and neglect? In Science (Vol. 337, Issue 6095, pp. 639–641). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.337.6095.639

Borthakur, A., & Kotokey, A. (2020). Ethnicity or Religion? the Genesis of the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan. Asian Affairs, 51(4), 817–837. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2020.1832772

Coady, A. M., & Solomon, H. (2009). Afghanistan’s arrested development: Combating Taliban resurgence with an eye for lasting peace. South African Journal of International Affairs, 16(1), 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/10220460902986248

Cole, J. (2009). Pakistan and Afghanistan: Beyond the Taliban. Political Science Quarterly, 124(2), 221–249. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb00647.x

Creswell, J. W., & Cresswell, D. (2018). Research design : Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications Inc.

D’Souza, S. M. (2009). Talking to the taliban: Will it ensure ‘Peace’ in Afghanistan? Strategic Analysis, 33(2), 254–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/09700160802702650

Das, M. (2021). Cancer care in Afghanistan after the Taliban takes over. In The Lancet. Oncology (Vol. 22, Issue 9, p. e390). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00481-2

Dixit, A. (1995). The afghan civil war: Emergence of the Taliban as power broker. South Asian Survey, 2(1), 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/097152319500200108

Drissel, D. (2014). Reframing the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan: New communication and mobilization strategies for the twitter generation. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 7(2), 97–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2014.986496

Emadi, M. H. (2011). Natural resource management and poverty in post-Taliban Afghanistan. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 68(3), 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2011.574428

Farhoumand-Sims, C. (2007). Unfulfilled promises: Women and peace in post-Taliban Afghanistan. In International Journal (Vol. 62, Issue 3, pp. 643–663). https://doi.org/10.1177/002070200706200312

Farrell, G., & Thorne, J. (2005). Where have all the flowers gone?: Evaluation of the Taliban crackdown against opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. International Journal of Drug Policy, 16(2), 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2004.07.007

François, I., Lambert, M. L., Salort, C., Slypen, V., Bertrand, F., & Tonglet, R. (1998). Causes of locomotor disability and need for orthopaedic devices in a heavily mined Taliban-controlled province of Afghanistan: Issues and challenges for public health managers. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 3(5), 391–396. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3156.1998.00246.x

Giustozzi, A. (2016). The Taliban and the 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan. Conflict, Security and Development, 16(6), 557–573. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2016.1246140

Goodson, L. P. (2004). Afghanistan in 2003: The Taliban resurface and a new constitution is born. Asian Survey, 44(1), 14–22. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2004.44.1.14

Ibrahimi, N., & Akbarzadeh, S. (2020). Intra-Jihadist Conflict and Cooperation: Islamic State–Khorasan Province and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 43(12), 1086–1107. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2018.1529367

Ibrahimi, S. Y. (2017). The Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001): ‘War-Making and State-Making’ as an Insurgency Strategy. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 28(6), 947–972. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2017.1374598

Jain, B., Bajaj, S. S., Noorulhuda, M., & Crews, R. D. (2021). Global health responsibilities in a Taliban-led Afghanistan. In Nature Medicine (Vol. 27, Issue 11, pp. 1852–1853). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01547-8

Johnson, R. (2021). The taliban and the modern history of Afghanistan. In Routledge Handbook of U.S. Counterterrorism and Irregular Warfare Operations (pp. 134–147). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003164500-11

Johnson, T. H. (2006). Afghanistan’s post-Taliban transition: the state of state-building after war. Central Asian Survey, 25(1–2), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634930600902991

Johnson, T. H., & Mason, M. C. (2007). Understanding the Taliban and Insurgency in Afghanistan. Orbis, 51(1), 71–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orbis.2006.10.006

Johnson, T. H., & Waheed, A. (2011). Analyzing Taliban taranas (chants): an effective Afghan propaganda artifact. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 22(1), 3–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2011.546572

Kim, S. J., & Park, K. S. (2020). Market share of the largest publishers in journal citation reports based on journal price and article processing charge. Science Editing. https://doi.org/10.6087/KCSE.210

Kitchenham, B. A. (2004). Procedures for Performing Systematic Reviews. Computer Science Department, Keele University (TR/SE0401) and National ICT Australia Ltd.

Kitchenham, B. A., Pearl Brereton, O., Budgen, D., Turner, M., Bailey, J., & Linkman, S. (2009). Systematic literature reviews in software engineering – A systematic literature review. Information and Software Technology, 51(1), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2008.09.009

Lafraie, N. (2009). Resurgence of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan: How and why? International Politics, 46(1), 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2008.36

Lee, E., Rustam, F., Ashraf, I., Washington, P. B., Narra, M., & Shafique, R. (2022). Inquest of Current Situation in Afghanistan Under Taliban Rule Using Sentiment Analysis and Volume Analysis. IEEE Access, 10, 10333–10348. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3144659

Li, M., Rao, K., Natiq, K., Pasha, O., & Blum, R. (2018). Coming of age in the shadow of the Taliban: Adolescents’ and parents’ views toward interpersonal violence and harmful traditional practices in Afghanistan. American Journal of Public Health, 108(12), 1688–1694. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304697

Lieven, A. (2021). An Afghan Tragedy: The Pashtuns, the Taliban and the State. Survival, 63(3), 7–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2021.1930403

Macdonald, D. (2005). Blooming flowers and false prophets: The dynamics of opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan under the Taliban. In International Journal of Drug Policy (Vol. 16, Issue 2, pp. 93–97). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2005.01.003

Mahendrarajah, S. (2014). Conceptual failure, the Taliban’s parallel hierarchies, and America’s strategic defeat in Afghanistan. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 25(1), 91–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2014.893957

Mahendrarajah, S. (2015). Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, and the Taliban of Afghanistan: ‘Puritanical reform’ as a ‘revolutionary war’ program. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 26(3), 383–407. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2014.982883

Maletta, H. (2007). Arable land tenure in Afghanistan in the early post-Taliban era. African and Asian Studies, 6(1–2), 13–52. https://doi.org/10.1163/156921007X180578

Maley, W. (1997). Health care under the Taliban, Afghanistan. The Lancet, 350(9079), 743–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)63556-8

Maley, W., & Jamal, A. S. (2022). Diplomacy of Disaster: The Afghanistan ‘Peace Process’ and the Taliban Occupation of Kabul. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 17(1), 32–63. https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191X-bja10089

Mallapaty, S. (2022). Afghanistan’s academics despair months after Taliban takeover. In Nature (Vol. 601, Issue 7891, pp. 11–12). https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03774-y

Margottini, C. (2009). Recovery of the Buddha’s niches and cliff in Bamiyan (Central Afghanistan) after the Taliban destruction of 2001. In Landslides - Disaster Risk Reduction (pp. 191–210). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69970-5_10

Martellucci, C. A., Qaderi, S., Tanimoto, T., & Ozaki, A. (2021). Afghan women and children’s health: Three main challenges under Taliban and COVID-19. Journal of Global Health, 11. https://doi.org/10.7189/JOGH.11.03126

Modebadze, V. (2022). Afghanistan Under Taliban: a New Regime Poses a Threat To International Stability. Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 8(1), 277–291. https://doi.org/10.47305/JLIA2281277m

Mohammad, F., & Conway, P. (2003). Justice and law enforcement in Afghanistan under the Taliban: How much is likely to change? In Policing (Vol. 26, Issue 1, pp. 162–167). https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510310460341

Mohd Saleem, S., Shoib, S., Dazhamyar, A. R., & Chandradasa, M. (2021). Afghanistan: Decades of collective trauma, ongoing humanitarian crises, Taliban rulers, and mental health of the displaced population. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102854

Nojumi, N. (2002). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region. Palgrave Macmillan US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-312-29910-1

Öztürk, S. (2019). The Taliban Regime in Afghanistan: En Route to International Recognition? Middle East Policy, 26(4), 102–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/mepo.12460

Qaderi, S., Ahmadi, A., & Lucero-Prisno, D. E. (2021). Afghanistan: Taliban’s return imperils maternal health. In Nature (Vol. 597, Issue 7877, p. 475). https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02551-1

Qazi, S. H. (2010). The “neo-Taliban” and counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. In Third World Quarterly (Vol. 31, Issue 3, pp. 485–499). https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2010.488484

Qian, X. (2020). On the relations between the US and the Afghan Taliban. China International Strategy Review, 2(1), 138–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42533-020-00045-9

Raqib, M., & Barreto, A. A. (2014). The Taliban, religious revival and innovation in Afghan nationalism. National Identities, 16(1), 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2013.843517

Rashid, A. (2006). Afghanistan: Progress since the Taliban. Asian Affairs, 37(1), 31–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068370500456868

Rashid, A. (2007). Letter from Afghanistan: Are the Taliban winning? Current History, 106(696), 17–20. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2007.106.696.17

Razjouyan, K., Farokhi, H., Qaderi, F., Qaderi, P., Masoumi, S. J., Shah, A., Pourhoseingholi, M. A., Ahmadi, A., Lucero-Prisno, D. E. I. I. I., Ozaki, A., Kotera, Y., Shah, J., Negin, F., & Qaderi, S. (2022). War Experience, Daily Stressors and Mental Health Among the Inter-taliban Generation Young Adults in Northern Afghanistan: A Cross-Sectional School-Based Study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.877934

Riphenburg, C. J. (2004). Post-Taliban Afghanistan: Changed outlook for women? Asian Survey, 44(3), 401–421. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2004.44.3.401

Ruchel, G. (2021). NERINT STRATEGIC ANALYSIS Taliban and Foreign Interference in Afghanistan. Austral: Brazilian Journal of Strategy and International Relations, 10(20), 298–332. https://doi.org/10.22456/2238-6912.121431

Schricker, E. (2017). The search for rebel interdependence: A study of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Journal of Peace Research, 54(1), 16–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343316668570

Sharma, E., Turkmani, S., Duclos, D., & Howard, N. (2022). To sustain maternal and newborn health in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, midwifery must be prioritised. In The BMJ (Vol. 376). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o653

Shorthose, J. (2003). Unlawful instruments and goods: Afghanistan, culture and the Taliban. Capital & Class, 27(1), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/030981680307900102

Sullivan, C. J. (2021). White Flags: on the Return of the Afghan Taliban and the Fate of Afghanistan. Asian Affairs, 52(2), 273–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2021.1882792

Terpstra, N. (2020). Rebel governance, rebel legitimacy, and external intervention: assessing three phases of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 31(6), 1143–1173. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2020.1757916

Terpstra, N. (2022). Opportunity Structures, Rebel Governance, and Disputed Leadership: The Taliban’s Upsurge in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, 2011–2015. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 45(4), 258–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2019.1702256

Thruelsen, P. D. (2010). The Taliban in southern Afghanistan: A localised insurgency with a local objective. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 21(2), 259–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2010.481417

Trace, M. (2005). The Taliban and opium cultivation in Afghanistan. In International Journal of Drug Policy (Vol. 16, Issue 2, pp. 79–80). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2005.01.004

Wani, Z. A. (2021). Afghanistan’s Neo-Taliban Puzzle. South Asia Research, 41(2), 220–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/02627280211000165

Webster, D., & Celik, O. (2014). Systematic review of Kinect applications in elderly care and stroke rehabilitation. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 11(1), 108. https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-0003-11-108

Weigand, F. (2017). Afghanistan’s Taliban–Legitimate Jihadists or Coercive Extremists? Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 11(3), 359–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2017.1353755




DOI: https://doi.org/10.15575/politicon.v5i1.24076

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Fisher Zulkarnain, Muhammad Salman Abidin, Putri Habibah Abidin

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Flag Counter

1th Floor, Building of FISIP

Jl. Raya A.H. Nasution No. 105 Cibiru Kota Bandung, 40614

E-mail: journalpoliticon@uinsgd.ac.id

 

Lisensi Creative Commons

POLITICON : Jurnal Ilmu Politik  are licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International