18 - Engaging with the Taliban then and now

This episode features a discussion on engaging with the Taliban then and now, and in particular what has the international aid community learned from past experiences and what are the consequences for the Afghan population. Based on his experience in Afghanistan since 1988 first as a United Nations (UN) aid worker and later as a researcher, ⁠Antoio Donini⁠ discusses the similarities and differences between the current context and international engagement in Afghanistan and what happened over twenty years ago. Held on 21 April 2023, the roundtable was organised and chaired by Dennis Dijkzeul (Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict) and is the third in a series of discussions on ethics in humanitarian action. The series is initiated by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies in collaboration with the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC). It relates to the project Red Lines and Grey Zones: Exploring the Ethics of Humanitarian Negotiations, led by Kristoffer Lidén at PRIO. This discussion is also part of the Theory Lab of the Co-Duties project.