Dr. Antonio Giustozzi is Senior Research Fellow in the Terrorism & Conflict program at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. Dr. Giustozzi is the author of six books on the Afghan Taliban including “The Taliban at War” (Hurst, 2019). Guistozzi received his PhD at the London School of Economics, and is a frequent columnist on issues pertaining to Afghanistan. He tweets at @ AntonioGiustoz2.
As the Taliban shifts from a flexible insurgency to a state authority, the group is increasingly facing the growing pains of trying to provide for the country’s security needs as it is in the process of establishing its emirate.
The Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of U.S. forces was aided by a network of local and international relationships that the group had been cultivating for years.
