What impact have Western sanctions, international aid, and regional diplomacy and trade had on the Taliban’s internal dynamics, governance capacity, and international relations? Are the Taliban weakened or strengthened as a result of these strategies since 2021? Join this webinar panel to learn about our research findings. The Kroc Institute’s Afghanistan Program for Peace and Development collaborated on a study with the Libertas Council to examine the impact of international strategies on Afghanistan from August 2021 to December 2024. Led by Sibghatullah Ghaznawi, the study assessed their influence on the Taliban’s governance, internal cohesion and response to these strategies. Register hereModerator:Laurie Nathan, director of the Mediation Program at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, part of the Keough School of Global AffairsIntroductory remarks:Aref Dostyar, director of the Afghanistan Program for Peace and Development at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, part of the Keough School of Global Affairs, and a Global Fellow at the Libertas CouncilPanelists:Sibghatullah Ghaznawi, associate research scholar, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia UniversityMuqaddessa Yoursih, senior advisor at swisspeaceConcluding remarks:Emily Ann Milnes, chief of staff, Libertas CouncilCo-Sponsor:Libertas CouncilRegister here Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

Enrique SeiraKellogg Institute Faculty FellowJoe and Deborah Loughrey Professor of Economics We complement a field experiment with cross-country evidence to show that exposure to apex corruption— corrupt acts implicating top-level politicians—causes large decreases in democratic values and associated behaviors. Behaviors such as individual voter turnout, contributions to support elections, and honesty and trust in incentivized games all fall. The effects on voting are greatest for incumbents perceived to be honest when apex corruption is exposed close to elections. We show, both experimentally and across scandals in 17 national settings, that apex corruption also reduces explicit support for democracy in favor of authoritarianism. We test two restorative solutions. Sponsored by the Kellogg Institute at the Keough School of Global Affairs.