The Taliban at war
Inside the Helmand insurgency, 2004-2012
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4854288 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Theo Farrell (0000-0002-2952-3783, British International Studies Association), Antonio Giustozzi (0000-0003-2685-9553, King's College London) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 89 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 845-871 |
| Publication date | 2013-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-2346.12048 |
| OpenAlex | W2039311614 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 22 |
In seeking to explain why and how the war in Afghanistan has dragged on, most analysis has focused on the western and Afghan government effort. In this article, we examine how the war looks from the perspective of the insurgency. Using Helmand province as a case-study, we draw on a large number of original interviews with Taliban field commanders and fighters to produce a uniquely detailed picture of the Taliban at war. In the first section, we explore how the Taliban returned to Helmand from 2004 to 2006, and show how the British made the situation far worse when they deployed forces to Helmand in 2006. In the second part of the article we examine the evolution of the Taliban insurgency in Helmand since 2006. We show how the Taliban has developed an increasingly centralized organizational structure, a more militarized shadow government and greater professionalism of field units. The overall picture that emerges is of a resilient insurgency that has adapted under immense military pressure. The Taliban have suffered very heavy attrition in Helmand, but they are far from defeated
Afghan · Government (linguistics) · Insurgency · Political economy · Political science · Shadow (psychology) · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Shaky foundations
Neoconservadorismo e a ofensiva contra as religiões de matriz africana no Brasil
The Taliban and the 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan
Concepts of Legitimacy
Graveyard of Analogies
Regional Support for Afghan Insurgents
From Social Alignment to Social Control
Detecting the need for change
The Paradox of the Heavy-Handed Insurgent
Beyond the ‘RtoP’
Military Adaptation in Afghanistan by Theo Farrell, Frans Osinga and James A Russell
Nato’s Afghan partners
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry Report and the applicability of Additional Protocol II to intervening foreign forces
Military adaptation and organisational convergence in war
The Limits to Learning in Military Operations
Hidden hands
Rebels fire and maneuver too
Televising Justice during War
The nature and extent of the Taliban's involvement in the drug trade before and after the regime change (1994-2022)
Collecting Data in Forbidden Places
The Rebel and the Politician
Why Did the Taliban Win
| Citations per year | 1.69 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Highly cited | No |