On May 15, 2022, ECFA organized a symposium on “Developments in Afghanistan following the return of the Taliban to power, the regional and international trends towards them, and suggested steps for Egypt to deal with them,” in which Ambassador Ahmed Ismail, Ambassador Ahmed Fadel Yaqoub, and Prof. Dr. Ahmed Fayez Farhat spoke. The symposium was opened by Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran, and attended by Ambassadors Ezzat Saad, ECFA Director, Hisham Al-Zimaity, Ahmed Al-Ghamrawy, and a number of researchers interested in Afghan affairs.

The participants indicated that the unorganized and rapid U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 represented an important turning point in the modern history of Afghanistan and the region, as it coincided with the rapid advance of the Taliban movement and the unexpected collapse of the Afghan security forces, with the Taliban taking the lead after the escape of President Ashraf Ghani, and 20 years after its forcible ousting in 2001 following the terrorist events of September 11 perpetrated by al-Qaeda, which was harbored by the Taliban government. In this context, the participants reviewed the agreement signed by the United States with the Taliban movement in Doha on February 29, 2020, as well as the joint statement issued between the United States and the Afghan government in the same month. On the other hand, the participants pointed out that the Taliban government is still suffering from the lack of clear de jure recognition by neighboring countries and regional powers, not even by its closest neighbor, Pakistan, which had strong historical relations with it, and was the main country that helped it in military control against the other Afghan Mujahideen factions, which enabled it to continue to rule in the first period from 1996 to 2001, and it currently carries the banner of defending the Taliban within international forums. However, there are several threats that cast a shadow over the relationship between the two sides, perhaps the most important of which is the issue of the border wall between the two countries and the issue of the Pashtun communities related to it.

  On the other hand, the participants discussed the potential interactions of Afghanistan’s Taliban with countries other than its immediate neighbors, such as China, India and the United States. They also asserted its importance as a regional energy transit between the countries of the region, and its importance to China in this context as an important country on the Belt and Road path, through which Beijing can achieve an advantage over the American opponent.