Samra Athar Kakakhel
Socio Political Analyst
As the U.S. completes its withdrawal, the 20-year war comes to an end, and the long-established conflict between American inconsistency and the Pashtun government (Taliban) gives place to diplomacy
The U.S.-backed off Afghan government and the Taliban both appear on the world stage, each hoping to win power in government. Following the Taliban’s power grab of the majority of the country following the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, the Nation lost control of the majority of the country, and Ashraf Ghani, the last president of the US-backed Afghan government, escaped to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeking political asylum. As an outcome, the Republic of Afghanistan was destroyed, and the country is now controlled by the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The Taliban, on the other hand, is the de facto ruling government, and no country or organization has granted them de jure or legal recognition. Is gaining state recognition under international law required? Where does the Taliban stand in terms of recognition?
Region, population, sovereignty, and the ability to engage in interactions with other states are all core elements of statehood, as stated in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. The people residing in that region must be socially organized, governed, and represented by officials in order for the government to be competent and independent enough to engage in international legal relations.
Significantly, if one of the constituent parts is lacking, the state does not dissolve; rather, it remains. For example, when the Third Reich collapsed, Germany was left without a centralized power, yet the state did not come to an end. As a consequence, the instability of the government does not affect the reality that Afghanistan is a state and a recognized independent body under international law.
What does state recognition mean in light of the fact that Afghanistan is already a state? The Taliban are trying to establish states by diplomatic means, saying that Afghans living on Taliban territory are citizens of the country and that the Taliban can engage themselves in international affairs.
As state recognition is a political rather than a legal act, it has no specific implications. Such an act, however, has significant weight in international relations and is never taken lightly. As a result, gaining governmental recognition is challenging. Recognition has some basic influence in general, but it is not constitutive of the state. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg dilemma.
State recognition could be a judgmental and unsupported act from another state. there’s no collective body with the authority to recognize states. it’s worth to be paid during a localized system of states, each of that is present with the judgmental authority to recognize or not recognize different states.
whereas some states may recognize the Taliban, other states do not. At the end of the day, you may wonder what that entity is, whether or not it is a state or not. It depends on whether or not the Taliban win political legitimacy. State recognition may be a confusing matter positioning a state as a legal entity, and also the taliban are attempting to unravel the puzzle.
Even if the Taliban are not recognized by any state, their future as a state is dependent on their diplomacy and control of Afghanistan. Time will only tell whether the Taliban can gain recognition by attempting to portray a new image of the Taliban to the world that is safe and stable and respects women’s rights.