Negotiating Ideas

Omar Sadr talks to Mujib Rahimi about his book State Formation in Afghanistan: A Theoretical and Political History. 

Mujib Rahman Rahimi is a writer, political analyst, and translator. He is a PhD graduate from the University of Essex. He served as senior advisor to Dr Abdullah Abdullah, and spokesperson of the Office of Chief Executive at the National Unity Government and High Council for National Reconciliation. 

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Omar Sadr talks to Dr Dipali Mukhopadhyay about the Taliban's model of governance, their perception of the state, and their ideology. 

Dipali Mukhopadhyay is an associate professor in the global policy area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Her research focuses on the relationships between political violence, state building, and governance during and after war. She is currently serving as senior expert on the Afghanistan peace process for the U.S. Institute of Peace. She is the author of Good Rebel Governance: Revolutionary Politics and Western Intervention in Syria (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming) with Kimberly Howe, and Warlords, Strongman Governors and State Building in Afghanistan (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

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Omar Sadr speaks with Professor William Maley about totalitarianism, the Taliban, and the design of the 2018 peace negotiations of Afghanistan.

Emeritus Professor William Maley served as Professor of Diplomacy at the ANU from 2003-2021, and was Foundation Director of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy from 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2014.

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Speaking with Dr Jennifer Murtazashvili of the University of Pittsburgh about pluralism and liberalism in Afghanistan. 

Dr. Omar Sadr joined CGM as a senior research scholar in October of 2021. Prior to this, he served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). He is the author of Negotiating Cultural Diversity in Afghanistan (2020). His work has appeared in venues such as Fair Observer, The Atlantic Council and The National Interest.  His primary research interests include democratic governance, governance of cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, and multiculturalism, as well as the political history of Afghanistan. Dr. Sadr also served as a researcher at the Afghanistan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) and as a researcher at the Department of Peace Studies with the National Centre for Policy Research (NCPR) in Kabul University.

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Negotiating Ideas Podcast

Hello and welcome to Negotiating Ideas a Podcast about political thought on democracy, pluralism, state and peace in Afghanistan. I am your host, Omar Sadr.

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I am a scholar in exile, forced to flee my homeland overnight due to the Taliban’s brutality. In this podcast, as in my research, I explore how totalitarianism threatens democracies and the ways in which societies reinstitute freedom, democracy, and pluralism.

Unlike the rise of illiberal authoritarian regimes in the West that have drawn considerable attention, the Taliban’s triumph in Afghanistan passed with deadly silence of the liberal public intellectuals both in the West and the rest. Little effort has been made to unpack the totalitarian nature of the Taliban. Instead, an overwhelming level of policy efforts has been devoted to the consolidation of the Taliban regime, despite their violent fundamentalism, horrific levels of human rights violations, and war crimes. Atrocities committed by the Taliban are also being continuously downplayed by systematic disinformation. The Taliban regime has found its allies not just among the ultra-right Islamist groups but also in governments that have supported and endorsed numerous Islamist groups in the Middle East and beyond.

At the times when democracy and liberalism are under persistent threat—not only from authoritarian states but also from disinformation, radical groups, militants, terrorists, and populism—it is important to create alternative spaces to better understand forms of authoritarianism and ways to defend free societies. Some may call these times an ‘age of anger, others may call it ‘being enveloped in kind of pessimism’. These terms are provocative but do nonetheless reflect a melancholic understanding of the current world. The pessimism is also because of the inability of the liberal to actively formulate and defend the values of a free society. Like some other places in the world, the liberal of the past 20 years in Afghanistan could not organize themselves in an efficient way and did not find a political home. There could be multiple reasons for this. Of them could be a lack of discussion and debate among the liberal themselves.

My goal in starting the Negotiating Ideas Podcast is to create a space for those who value pluralism, democracy, and liberty to find each other to develop solidarity and clarity. The podcast will invite academics, public intellectuals, and other thought leaders to discuss their ideas in the realm of political reform, constitutionalism, secularism, democracy, social movement, rights, and pluralism. Hosted every two weeks by me, Omar Sadr, the podcast will take the form of semi-structured, free-flowing conversations, which will create opportunities to dive deeper into the realm of ideas.

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Join me in conversations with academics, public intellectuals, and a range of thought leaders, young and old, as we unpack these phenomena every two weeks. I also welcome ideas for potential topics and speakers and invite you to share your suggestions with me at [email protected]. I am very thankful to all for tuning in and look forward to our conversations.

At the end, I would like to thank Center for Governance and Markets (CGM) and Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Pittsburgh for their help in setting up this podcast.