Five years on, Taliban are still at a fork in the road

The article evaluates the past five years of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) under Taliban rule, marking the anniversary of their August 2021 takeover. It highlights a period of relative stability compared to previous decades of conflict, alongside significant challenges such as managing the return of millions of refugees and preventing the use of Afghan soil for transnational terrorism, presenting a mixed picture of the current regime's performance.