Rejector Islamists: Taliban and Nationalist Jihadism

Abstract

Like al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban are rejector Islamists who have not yet moved much beyond the idea that democracy is incompatible with Islam.¹ Like other jihadist groups, they are insurrectionist Islamists, waging an insurgency against Western forces and the Afghan state. Yet, unlike Al-Qaeda which is a transnationalist, the Taliban is a nationalist jihadist group. As a nationalist jihadists group the Taliban accept the framework of the Afghan nation-state. This still begs the question why devote an entire chapter to relatively small group of largely militant Pashtun Islamists who reject democracy. The case of the Taliban provides unique insight into an ultraconservative manifestation of Islamism that cannot escape the geopolitical context it finds itself. Indeed, the Afghan Taliban’s behavior in the post-9/11 decade increasingly shows that they have cautiously adjusted their behavior and ideology in order to remain relevant at a time when the country continues to democratize.