Episode 8. The Emir’s Labyrinth: Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown on the Taliban Emirate's Factions, Fiefdoms and Fragile Control

What keeps the Taliban’s grip on power so firm—and what might unravel it from within?In this gripping season finale of Talibanology, host Tamim Asey is joined by Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a leading authority on non-state armed actors, insurgent governance and illicit economies. As Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Director of several cutting-edge initiatives including:- Director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors- Director of The Fentanyl Epidemic in North America and the Global Reach of  Synthetic Opioids, and- Co-Director of the Africa Security Initiative. Dr. Felbab-Brown has spent years analyzing the Taliban’s shadowy networks, battlefield adaptations and criminal survival strategies.Together, we lift the veil on:•The internal power dynamics of the Taliban leadership.•Hidden factional rifts, rivalries and generational divides.•The regime’s growing narco economy and its regional enablers.•The ISKP threat and Taliban counterterrorism posturing.•The implications of Russia’s recognition and other creeping legitimization efforts.•The U.S. policy dilemma: contain, engage or ignore?Tune in for a rare 360-degree diagnosis of Taliban rule—from a scholar who has studied their metamorphosis up close, from insurgency to statecraft, from jihad to geopolitics.🎧 Available now on Apple, Spotify and all major platforms.