If women are the Taliban’s kryptonite, let’s send our best and brightest

The Biden administration is reportedly internally divided over how to address the worsening political, security and humanitarian crises in Afghanistan. 

The debate essentially boils down to whether the U.S. should continue to let the Taliban dictate the terms of engagement while it eviscerates women’s rights and drags the entire country backward or whether the U.S. should instead set, and enforce, meaningful red lines with real consequences to modify the Taliban’s behavior. It is a debate that has far-reaching consequences, not only for the Afghan people but also for U.S. foreign policy.

In recent weeks, the Taliban have become more brazen in their draconian rule over Afghanistan. Since December, the Taliban have imposed additional restrictions on women’s participation in the workforce, education and public spaces. The ban on women working for non-governmental aid agencies has been especially devastating, with many of the largest humanitarian NGOs making the difficult decision to suspend operations pending a change in policy. On Jan. 15, a leading women’s rights advocate and former member of the Afghan parliament, Mursal Nabizada, was gunned down in her home. The Taliban speak of finding the assassins, but this is akin to appointing an arsonist the fire inspector.

The Taliban has been emboldened in this arrogant disregard for the norms of civilized behavior by the weakness of American policy. The U.S. has conditioned the Taliban to behave badly without fear of meaningful consequences. In addition to its blatant norm-breaking, the Taliban has violated nearly every tenet of the Doha Agreement, including by continuing to harbor members of al Qaeda, eschewing any form of representative or constitutional government and willfully immiserating the Afghan people. Those concerned about counterterrorism need look no further than the recent ISIS-K attacks to see the Taliban are either impotent, unwilling or both when it comes to stopping terror.

Taliban protestations to the contrary, the privation of the Afghan people is not primarily driven by a lack of resources due to Western sanctions or the freezing of Afghan reserves. Since taking power, the Taliban have taxed their way to riches, collecting more than $1 billion in revenue, while the people of Afghanistan live in abject poverty. They have also benefitted from the diversion of humanitarian assistance intended for Afghanistan’s suffering population. Their lack of official recognition and legitimacy has not stopped the Taliban from striking mining and energy deals with U.S. adversaries including China, Russia and Iran. Aid and money continue to flow, as the Biden administration refuses to take punitive actions that could target those driving these destructive policies.

What will it take for the U.S. to change direction and ensure there are consequences for the Taliban’s new reign of terror? The U.S. should start by giving the Taliban a taste of their own medicine.

If women and women’s empowerment are anathema to the Taliban, then make women their kryptonite. First, the U.S., its allies and partners, United Nations funds and programs, and major humanitarian NGOs should only send women representatives to any meetings and/or negotiations with the Taliban. Likewise, any meetings organized internationally where Taliban representatives are present must also be attended by Afghan women representatives who are given the same status and protocol treatment. The U.S. should also allow the Afghan embassy to reopen and operate without restriction, under the leadership of Ambassador Adela Raz.

Second, the U.S. and its partners should establish a grant system for the $3.5 billion Afghan Reserve Fund, with two caveats: First, funds can only be issued through entities that can certify they have no ties (financial or otherwise) to the Taliban; second, preference will be given to women-run organizations for distribution and programming.

Following the recent U.N. Security Council statement calling the situation in Afghanistan “deeply alarming,” its next move should be to reinstate Afghanistan’s seat on the Commission for Status of Women, but not with a Taliban representative. Rather, the U.N. should credential one of the many senior women officials who have been forced to flee their homeland, such as former Minister for Women’s Affairs, Hasina Safi, who previously held the seat. Providing independent Afghan women leaders with this forum to speak out on behalf of their sisters living under Taliban rule would back up the Security Council’s denouncement of the Taliban with tangible action.

 Likewise, the U.S. and like-minded countries should support the U.N.’s credentials committee seating of an independent Afghan woman as a non-Taliban permanent representative in Afghanistan’s seat in the General Assembly. Ambassador Raz, former Deputy Permanent Representative Asila Wardak, or any of the many other Afghan women leaders now in exile could ably fill this post.

American universities should also follow the United Kingdom’s lead and expand support for online schooling to ensure every Afghan girl has access to education as the U.S. builds a global coalition to personally sanction any member of the Taliban who is responsible for restricting equal access to educational and employment opportunities for Afghan girls and women of any age. The U.S. already provides administrative and monetary support for e-learning in numerous countries where educational opportunities are limited due to civil unrest or other factors. Additionally, making SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service available for Afghanistan, as has been done in Ukraine, would give women and girls access to these opportunities without relying on services currently under Taliban control.

Finally, social media companies such as Twitter should implement a policy to identify and label members of the Taliban on their platforms, much as they do with other problematic account holders such as those who spread disinformation or foment violence and ban those who have been sanctioned by the United States, the U.N., or other credible authorities. Any account purporting to represent the Taliban should be automatically ineligible for Twitter verification as well. The Biden administration would make this task both easier and more compelling by formally designating the Taliban a Foreign Terrorist Organization, instead of pretending they are a U.S. counterterrorism partner.

These recommendations are just a few of the necessary but insufficient steps the U.S. can take to show the Taliban that there is a price to be paid for its outrageous behavior. The U.S. and its allies must be clear through action, rather than just words, that Afghan women have rights that must be respected, and that the Taliban are not the legitimate representative of the Afghan people or the Afghan state. It is past time for the Biden administration to stop conditioning the Taliban to believe that the U.S. and its allies will keep rewarding their bad behavior with more concessions and complacency.

Instead, we must start treating them like the aberrant criminals they are and do everything we can to weaponize their own misogyny against them. Failing to do what can be done for Afghan women is not only a missed opportunity to use an effective foreign policy strategy; it is also a gross moral failure, consigning a generation of Afghans to avoidable ignorance, deprivation and violence. 

While the Biden team understandably wants to avoid talking about Afghanistan, ignoring the problem through inaction and stasis will not relieve them of the harsh judgment of history. Rather, it will only make that judgment more severe.

Kelley E. Currie is an international human rights lawyer and former U.S. State Department official. Amy K. Mitchell is a former senior advisor for the office of Global Women’s Issues and a former senior government official at the Departments of State and Defense.