VANCOUVER, CANADA – The small Nordic country of Norway brands itself as a pioneer of complex conflict resolution and mediation. Its allegedly neutral foreign policy, it claims, gives it credibility with a wide range of actors in countries with protracted conflicts.
In its quest for global relevance, Oslo has harnessed its reputation for high standards of living, quality of governance, and the strength of its liberal democracy to obscure its rather controversial decisions to work with some of the most dangerous conflict parties. That controversy was on display earlier this week as the capital city hosted two guests for two platforms about Afghanistan.
One was the Afghanistan Future Thought Forum, an initiative of Sultan Barakat, the Palestinian-British professor of public policy at Qatar’s Hamed Bin Khalifa University, which is funded by the Norwegian foreign ministry. Sources speaking to KabulNow confirmed that there were members of the Taliban participating from Kabul in addition to participants from the Afghan diaspora in Europe, North America, and Turkey.
The AFTF claims that it is a platform for track II dialogues aimed at finding a non-violent solution to Afghanistan’s decades-long conflict. Critics, however, say that Mr. Barakat and his associates are on a mission to sell the Taliban to the world, project the group as Afghanistan’s only option to rule and capable of rational and principled relationship with the international community.
Reporting the latest round of its meetings on X, AFTF said that its participants examined some of the most challenging political issues facing Afghanistan today, including its engagement with the international community.
Many of those who point fingers at AFTF and its leniency towards the Taliban were in Oslo earlier this week for another meeting. Hosted by the Human Rights Research League, a group of civil society leaders were invited to meet with Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Afghanistan, ahead of the upcoming UN talks on the country.
Although little came out for the public from either of the meetings, Mr. Bennett said on X that his engagement was productive. According to the association, topics discussed in the meeting included the continued need for humanitarian financial aid, increasing protection for at-risk Afghans, and Mr. Bennett’s forthcoming report.
The participants, reportedly, warned Mr. Bennett to avoid in his recommendations “normalization without demonstrable change.” And, that is perhaps what distinguishes the two platforms and makes the Norwegian role in Afghanistan anachronistic.
Critics of AFTF say that its participants advocate for the normalization of relations with the Taliban regime at any cost, regardless of any “demonstrable change.” Asila Wardak, a former diplomat of the republic government who is a regular member of the AFTF said on X the participants represented every group and community, even the Taliban.
In apparent response to critics and contradicting her earlier bragging of sharing a table with a regime that has categorically oppressed women in Afghanistan, Ms. Wardak said that “women cannot be traitors; the Taliban are everyone’s enemy.”
Many say that others in the platform, especially those leading it, have less contradictory views of the Taliban and clearly “lobby” for the regime. Its presiding chair, Fatima Gailani, who was one of the four women negotiating with the Taliban on behalf of the failing republic, is considered a figure close to many Taliban leaders.
In the wake of the Taliban’s decision to close secondary schools to Afghan girls, Ms. Gailani spearheaded an initiative to write an open letter to the US President Joe Biden asking for the release of Afghanistan Central Bank’s reserves to the Taliban. The United States later transferred $3.5 billion, half of the amount held in the US Federal Reserve, to a trust fund in a Swiss Bank and announced Ms. Gailani’s husband, former finance minister Anwar-al-Haq Ahadi as a trustee.
Norway, however, is not completely alone in its patronage of such initiatives. It appears that the Nordic country has had the blessing of more consequential stakeholders. AFTF’s previous meetings have been joined by American officials and delegates from regional countries. In its post on X about the sessions in Oslo, AFTF said that the meeting’s outcomes were discussed with senior diplomats from Iran, Pakistan, India, China, Turkey, the UK and the EU, as well as the United States, among others.
Critics, mostly women, say that the Western world, as evidenced by their funding and support to initiatives such as AFTF, show that they are ready to sacrifice the aspirations of Afghans for a life with freedom and dignity for the sake of their national security interests. In the view of the critics, the Taliban have had many opportunities to demonstrate that change but have refrained. That includes the refusal to open educational institutions including secondary schools to girls and allow women to work, an issue that the outside world might not be able to get passed even if it wanted.
