The cloisters of Jesus College in Cambridge are used to weighty debates. For centuries, scholars have gathered in its panelled halls to wrestle with questions of politics, philosophy, and power.
Afghanistan—a land with a formidable civilisational heritage and a long-standing legacy of wisdom and knowledge within the broader “Persianate world”—has faced a paradoxical condition in its modern history.
Four years after the Taliban’s return, Afghanistan remains mired in legal disorder, systematic repression of freedoms, ethnic and gender inequality, and the erosion of public hope.
It has been four years since the fall of the republic in Afghanistan. During this period, a diverse array of political movements, military fronts, and civil resistance groups have emerged—both within the country and beyond its borders.
When the Taliban seized power in 2021, the women of Afghanistan’s hard-won rights were swiftly erased. Bans on education, employment, and even access to public spaces reflect not incidental repression but a deliberate policy of gender apartheid.
As the Taliban celebrate their fourth-year reign of terror in Afghanistan, the country suffers from an unprecedented episode of political, social, cultural and economic crises in its modern history.
This assessment of six roadmaps by top political currents opposing the Taliban, presented at the Cambridge Afghanistan Series (CAS-III), is carried out by David Loyn, Senior Visiting Research Fellow at King's College London.
On 3 July, Russia became the first country to formally recognise[i] the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan by accepting its ambassador—marking a significant departure from its stance during the Taliban’s previous rule, between 1996 and 2001.
This interview with Zalmai Nishat, the Founder and Executive Chair of Mosaic Global Foundation was originally published in The Narrative 360 on 4 July 2025. This is the second part of ’10 Questions for’ with Zalmai Nishat
This opinion piece by Emeritus Professor Amin Saikal—an advisory board member of the Mosaic Global Foundation and participant in its Cambridge Afghanistan Series (CAS)—was originally published in The Age on 1 July 2025
In recent years, Central Asia has emerged as a critical geostrategic crossroads, poised between the ambitions of global powers and the aspirations of its diverse societies.
This opinion piece by Zalmai Nishat, the Founder and Executive Chair of Mosaic Global Foundation was originally published in The Narrative 360 on 24 June 2025.
This opinion piece by Emeritus Professor Amin Saikal, a member of the advisory board of Mosaic Global Foundation and a member of its Cambridge Afghanistan Series (CAS) was originally published in The Age on 19 June 2025.
The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, held a two-day UN-sponsored summit in Doha between 18-19 of February. Present in this summit were more than two dozen nations’ special envoys on Afghanistan and a number of international organisations.
In an unprecedented move, the British Parliament has started looking into the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan by holding a Parliamentary Inquiry on Gender Apartheid.
