It is now five years since the Taliban takeover on 15 August 2021. Hassan Abbas’s The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans Left (2023) is one attempt to understand the Taliban from within. Abbas’s central argument is that the Taliban is a fractious movement, divided by personalities, interests, and approaches, including hardliners based largely in Kandahar and more pragmatic figures associated with Kabul. He encourages readers to distinguish between the Taliban of 1996–2001 and what he calls the “new Taliban” that returned to power in 2021, pointing to the movement’s prolonged engagement with the international community during the Doha negotiations, its use of social media and modern communication tools, and the presence of members with greater exposure to formal education and international politics.
