Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Rebel governance, rebel legitimacy, and external intervention: assessing three phases of Taliban rule in Afghanistan

  • Niels Terpstra*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This article focuses on rebel governance and rebel legitimacy during civil war. It investigates how external intervention in support of an incumbent government and withdrawal of external forces shape rebel legitimacy dynamics and rebels’ opportunities to govern. It adopts a longitudinal perspective on Afghanistan’s Taliban, analyzing three phases of the movement’s existence. Moral forms of legitimacy resonated particularly during instances of external intervention, whereas pragmatic forms of legitimacy became more relevant after the withdrawal of external forces and during periods of the Taliban’s opponents’ ineffective governance. The article is based on a literature review and fieldwork in Afghanistan.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1143-1173
Number of pages31
JournalSmall Wars and Insurgencies
Volume31
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Aug 2020

Funding

Many thanks go to the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Hofvijverkring in the Hague for their financial contributions to this research project. I am indebted to The Liaison Office (TLO) in Kabul for its hospitality and invaluable contributions to this project. Finally, many thanks to (in alphabetical order) Rahmatullah Amiri, Sebastian van Baalen, Chris van der Borgh, Jolle Demmers, Toon Dirkx, Georg Frerks, Nelson Kasfir, Bart Klem, Jessica Maves-Braithwaite, and Nora Stel for their feedback, inspiration, and support at various stages of this research.

Keywords

  • Afghanistan
  • external intervention
  • Rebel governance
  • rebel legitimacy
  • Taliban

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Rebel governance, rebel legitimacy, and external intervention: assessing three phases of Taliban rule in Afghanistan'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this