Who Will Mentor the Taliban This Time: Pakistan or Qatar?
Islamabad has long fostered the fighters but Doha has recently sheltered prominent members of the group. Will its deeper pockets make a difference?
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (center) in Qatar's capital Doha on July 18, 2021.
Photographer: KARIM JAAFAR/AFPAs the Taliban settle into their second stint as Afghanistan’s rulers, any hope of avoiding a reprise of their first period of rule may rest on a competition for influence in Kabul between Pakistan and Qatar. The outcome will determine what role the wider world, and especially the West, can play in the country after the withdrawal of American forces.
Most Afghans — as well as foreign governments, aid agencies, donors and investors — will be rooting for Doha over Islamabad. Memories of how the previous Taliban administration performed under Pakistani tutelage allow for no optimism about how things will play out this time. The Qataris are a relatively unknown quantity in South Asia, but they could hardly do worse.