‘Afghanistan’—the transnational connection between Haqqani Network and the Arab World

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the dynamics in the Haqqani Network’s (HN) connection with the Arab world which influenced the latter’s relationship with Afghanistan. The financial as well as ideological network that was established between the HN and the Arab countries has seen a trajectory from financing the Afghan War during the 1970s to clandestinely supporting the revival of the Taliban insurgency after 2001 and finally, participating in the Afghan peace negotiation process from 2010 onward – partly due to changes in the geopolitical priorities. After the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, the existing clandestine network is likely to change because many leaders from the Haqqani Network have occupied key positions in the Taliban’s interim government. Moreover, some of the countries from the Arab world are redefining their national interests by bringing significant changes to their foreign policies – which is impacting their interaction with the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan. Despite all this change, the relationship between the Arab world, Haqqani Network, and Afghanistan (including the present Taliban 2) is likely to continue as financial confederates (with the help of both overt and hidden networks) in the present and the future as well.