Taliban's Internal Issues and External Actions: A Complex Situation in Afghanistan

Since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, internal disagreements have spilled into public view, with a growing number of leaders disagreeing with the emir's overall policy agenda. The emir's overreach, including his December decrees, should be understood as deeply political, and as preoccupied with internal politics as with a harsh vision of a gender apartheid society. The emir's increasingly frantic micromanagement of governance appears prompted in part by perceptions of rampant disobedience; he can either accept being undermined, or double down. Dissent against the emir's agenda is real, but even as a growing number of Taliban seem to believe the emir is overreaching, dissenters aren't necessarily all in agreement, or even working toward the same objectives, which will make it difficult for them to act in concert.