Why Afghans Are Leaving Pakistan — Ido Raz

This episode of The IR thinker examines the Afghan refugee crisis in Pakistan with Ido Gadi Raz, analysing the scale of Afghan displacement, associated security concerns and Islamabad’s evolving policy response. The conversation explores the Taliban’s role, the economic and geopolitical implications for both states, the colonial legacy of the border, and the risks of wider conflict in a nuclear-armed regional context.Ido RazIdo Gadi Raz is a researcher specialising in the Afghanistan–Pakistan region, with a focus on terrorism, geopolitics and international relations. He is a fast-track PhD candidate in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and previously worked as a financial intelligence analyst in the Israeli government sector. Holding a BA in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic from Bar-Ilan University, he contributes to scholarly debate through journal articles and analytical pieces and is a regular commentator on Afghan–Pakistani affairs in the Israeli media.Publications:Pakistan-Israel Relations: A Chance of Normalization?Against all Expectations: Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations after the American WithdrawalThe United States Withdrawal from Afghanistan after Two Decades of a Global War on TerrorismFar But Present: Israel’s Three Major Threats Coming From Afghanistan – AnalysisContent00:00 - Introduction02:21 - Afghan Displacement: Scale and Impact08:07 - Security Concerns for Returning Afghans12:09 - Border Dynamics and International Response16:49 - Revisiting Pakistan’s Afghan Visa Policy18:23 - Pakistan’s Response: Strategy and Tactics22:13 - Taliban’s Crisis Management24:05 - Pakistan’s Political Crisis and Afghan Exodus29:34 - Terrorist Groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan34:56 - Pakistan-Afghanistan Economic Ties40:18 - Afghan-Pak Border: Colonial Legacy42:22 - Diplomacy in the Refugee Crisis44:06 - Need for Mediation in Pakistan-Afghanistan46:23 - Cultural Aspects of the Crisis48:14 - Pashtuns’ Role in the Situation49:41 - Long-Term Policies for Crisis Resolution51:49 - Conflict Risks: Pakistan vs Afghanistan54:25 - Nuclear Factors in the Crisis56:41 - Research Challenges in Pakistan-Afghanistan58:11 - Afghan-Pakistani Scholar Collaboration59:14 - Suggested Research AreasFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.