The Afghan Eye
The Afghan Eye is an independent, Afghan-led platform dedicated to Afghans reclaiming and leading the discussion on Afghanistan. We critique and provide a counter-narrative to all issues Afghan.
Episodes
40 episodes
Analysing Shoigu's Visit and Its Impact on Afghan Relations
In this compelling episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, host Sangar Paykhar sits down with Mir-Ali Askerov, a political scientist from the Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, to discuss the recent high-level Russian delegation visit t...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 9
•
1:01:05
Afghanistan and BRICS: What the 16th Summit Means for Afghanistan's Global Position and Future
In this episode of the Afghan Eye podcast, hosts Sangar Paykhar and Ahmed-Waleed Kakar dive into the implications of Afghanistan’s attendance at the recent 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan. We discuss Afghanistan’s potential strategic interests, regi...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 8
•
58:50
Understanding Pakistan's Repeated Attacks on Afghanistan with Ali Mustafa
On 18th March 2024, Afghanistan's remote and southeastern Paktika province found itself subject to aerial bombardment. The airstrikes, carried out in the early hours of the morning, were conducted by Pakistani military planes from across ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 8
•
58:11
How Pakistan's Instability Impacts Afghanistan
Qatar again has served as the location for Afghanistan-centred gatherings. As a UN-convened conference kicked off, representatives from different countries, international bodies as well as Afghan civil society gathered in Doha as part of what w...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 7
•
1:08:15
Is The Taliban's International Legitimacy Growing?
Pakistan concluding fiercely contested elections amidst turmoil and mass claims of irregularities is only the latest development in an eventful 2024. The year has been similarly eventful for Afghanistan's foreign relations. On 29th January, the...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 6
•
52:26
Reviewing 2023 and Afghan-Pakistan Relations | Ahmed-Waleed Kakar | The Afghan Eye Podcast, S.2 E.5
Amidst deteriorating relations between Kabul and Islamabad, news emerged on 18th December. The Afghan ambassador to Pakistan confirmed that an invitation had been extended to Pakistani politician Maulana Fazlur Rahman to visit Kabul. The visit,...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 5
•
20:21
Has China Officially Recognised the Taliban? | Ahmed-Waleed Kakar | The Afghan Eye Podcast, S.2 E.4
On 1st December 2023, the Taliban's ambassador was greeted by an official at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bilal Karimi formally presented his credentials to and was received by Hong Lei: the Director General of the Chinese Foreign M...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 4
•
23:05
Afghan Exiles Gather In Moscow | Ahmed-Waleed Kakar | The Afghan Eye Podcast, S.2 E.3
On 24th November 2023, a conference was convened in the Russian capital of Moscow. Attendees included Russian politicians and an Iranian government representative. The conference was also attended by a number of exiled Afghan politicians: Shukr...
•
19:45
Is The USA Upgrading Ties With The Taliban? | Ahmed-Waleed Kakar | The Afghan Eye Podcast S.2 E.2
On 6th November 2023, senior and former American diplomat Annie Pforzheimer wrote an article for World Politics Review. In the article, Pforzheimer, who has previously worked extensively as an American diplomat in Afghanistan, highlighted the s...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 2
•
24:53
Pakistan Expels Millions of Afghan Refugees | Ahmed-Waleed Kakar
On 2nd October 2023, Pakistan's Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti announced that illegal immigrants residing in the country would be given one month to return to their home countries. Whilst not explicitly aimed at Afghans, the major...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 1
•
33:05
Episode 34 | Sepi Azarbaijani-Moghaddam: The Taliban banned from women working for the UN
In the beginning of April 2023, the Taliban notified the United Nation mission in Afghanistan that Afghan women are no longer permitted to work for the U.N. There are approximately 400 Afghan women who work for the U.N mission in Afghanistan...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 34
•
1:09:31
Episode 33 | Abdul Hai Qanit | The Taliban's diplomatic breakthroughs
A flurry of diplomatic activity over the past months has seen Afghan embassies and consulates in Iran and the UAE handed over to the new Afghan Taliban government. As this diplomatic momentum increases, reports circulate that Tajik...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 33
•
51:27
Episode 32 | Jeff Rigsby: an American living in Afghanistan
In this episode of The Afghan Eye podcast, Sangar hosts Jeff Rigsby. Jeff Rigsby was a US military contractor and aid worker during the occupation who is currently living in Afghanistan. Jeff sheds light in the lack of transparency in the Weste...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 32
•
57:39
Episode 31 | Book review: John J. Mearsheimer's The Great Delusion
What is liberalism? What makes liberalism an aggressive ideology that motivates the militarism of Western states? How can dissecting liberalism help us understand the American occupation of Afghanistan?To answer these questions further,...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 31
•
1:54:12
The Escalating Taliban Bans on Girls' Education in Afghanistan
The Afghan Eye is back!In 2023's first episode, Sangar interviews Ahmed-Waleed on his recent article on the history and legacy of politicised education in Afghanistan. Amidst increasing Taliban restrictions on Afghan women's right to wo...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 30
•
1:22:59
The Afghan Brief - Episode 4
This episode of The Afghan Brief focuses on the three day long 'Scholar's Conference' gathered by the Taliban in Kabul and its 11-point Declaration. Ahmed-Waleed and Sangar discuss the assembly's Declaration, its lack of political inclusivity a...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 4
•
16:47
Why The West Is Getting Afghanistan Wrong, Again
Who is to blame for the current diplomatic deadlock between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the West? Have the Taliban really changed?Is there such thing as Taliban 2.0? If so, how and why is it different from Taliba...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 31
•
1:05:21
The Afghan Brief - Episode 3
In the third episode of The Afghan Brief, the latest issue of national significance from Afghanistan is discussed. Sangar and Ahmed-Waleed dissect the convening of a grand assembly of three thousand religious scholars and tribal elders from acr...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 3
•
16:56
The Afghan Brief - Episode 2
In the second episode of The Afghan Brief, Sangar and Ahmed-Waleed discuss ongoing rescue efforts by the Afghan government and the international reaction to a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan's southeast Loya Paktia region. They also...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 2
•
16:29
The Afghan Brief - Episode 1
On the first ever episode of The Afghan Brief, Ahmed-Waleed and Sangar cover the latest news coming out of Afghanistan, including a travel ban on two officials of the Afghan government. They also discuss signs of seemingly warming ties between ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 1
•
16:39
Nationalism & Ethno-Nationalism in Afghanistan
What the Afghan national identity? Where does nationalism and ethno-nationalism come from? How should we interpret the call for partition by some fringe groups online? In this episode, host Sangar Paykhar and Historian Ahmed-Waleed Kakar attemp...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 30
•
2:22:28
Gulmakai Saleh | #EndAfghanStarvation
Gulmakai Saleh: https://gulmakai.com/https://twitter.com/GulmakaiSalehhttps://www.youtube.com/user/gulmakaihttps://www.instagram.com/gulmakaisaleh/https://www.linkedin.com/in/gulmakai-saleh-937a82a3/https://www.facebook....
•
Season 29
•
Episode 1
•
58:06
Ashok Swain | The Prospects of a Taliban government in Afghanistan
After the fall of the previous regime on 15 August, the Taliban are now the de facto government of Afghanistan. Sangar Paykhar spoke to professor Ashok Swain about the prospects of a government led by the Taliban. Ashok Swain is a ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 27
•
42:37
Afghan Eye Live: The fall of provincial capitals in Northern Afghanistan
Ahmed-Waleed Kakar & Sangar Paykhar discuss the subsequent fall of provincial capitals in Northern Afghanistan, the UN Security Council discussion about Aghanistan, the demand from Kabul to sanction Pakistan and Sun Tzu's the Art of War's a...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 27
•
2:09:20