The Return of the Taliban to Power as a Factor in the Transformation of Threats and Challenges to Regional Security

Makhmudov R.

doi:10.20542/0131-2227-2025-69-2-65-75

The Return of the Taliban to Power as a Factor in the Transformation of Threats and Challenges to Regional Security

R. Makhmudov

Rubric: Greater Middle East

DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2025-69-2-65-75

EDN: XDIINB

R. Makhmudov, rmaxmudov@uwed.uz

University of World Economy and Diplomacy, 54, Ave. Mustakillik, Tashkent, 100007, Republic of Uzbekistan.

Received 20.01.2024. Revised 02.10.2024. Accepted 29.11.2024.

Abstract. The article addresses the issue of the emergence of new challenges and threats to the regional security system in Central and South Asia following the return to power of the Taliban movement in August 2021. Among them is the Taliban’s active policy in constructing the Qoshtepa canal related to the Amu Darya in northern Afghanistan without coordination with the Central Asian countries, posing a threat to the water, environmental, and food security of extensive areas in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The complicating factor is the deterioration of relationship between the Taliban and Pakistan after 2021, rooted in contradictions surrounding the Kabul-non-recognized Durand Line, which divides the territory inhabited by many Pashtun tribes and clans on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. An irritant in Afghan-Pakistani relations has been the increased terrorist activities of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) following the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which has resulted in numerous casualties among Pakistani security forces and civilians. Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring TTP militants on its territory, a claim refuted by the latter. In the long term, a challenge, primarily for a secular Central Asia, may be the Taliban’s antimodernist policy capable of influencing the growing post-secular trends in countries located north to the Amu Darya.

Keywords: Taliban, Central Asia, Qoshtepa canal, Helmand River, Durand Line, Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, Islamist fundamentalism

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For citation:

Makhmudov R. The Return of the Taliban to Power as a Factor in the Transformation of Threats and Challenges to Regional Security . World Eсonomy and International Relations, 2025, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 65-75. https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2025-69-2-65-75 EDN: XDIINB

Contents World Eсonomy and International Relations. 2025, vol. 69, no. 2

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