THE AFGHAN TALIBAN: EVOLUTION OF AN ADAPTIVE INSURGENCY

Throughout their twenty-five-year insurgency, the Afghan Taliban have evolved from a small group of madrasa students, mujahedeen fighters, and tribal Afghans into one of the most innovative and adaptive insurgencies in modern history. As a result, the U.S.-declared War on Terror in Afghanistan has persisted for eighteen years as the Afghan Taliban continue to threaten regional security and stability. In 2019, renewed Taliban peace talks with the U.S. may be an indicator for optimism, but the historical patterns in Taliban strategy and ideology demand caution. The U.S. government has repeatedly underestimated the sophistication, innovation, and resiliency of the Taliban. This thesis examines how the Afghan Taliban’s strategies and ideologies have evolved since 1994 when the group became an explicit political and military entity. Broken into distinct time periods, this thesis chronologically investigates the history of the insurgency using the following lenses: Afghan identity, the spread of transnational terrorism, tactical innovation, and political ingenuity. Outdated and over-generalized counterinsurgency doctrine led to millions of American deaths in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Success of future doctrine requires applied awareness of cultural complexities and adversarial behaviors. Agility, speed, and responsiveness must become major tenets of counterinsurgency planning moving forward.http://archive.org/details/theafghantaliban1094562833Ensign, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited