Associate Fellow, IDSA, Mr Vishal Chandra’s chapter ‘Where is Afghanistan Headed?’ was published in the edited volume The Political Future of Afghanistan: Issues and Perspectives by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Kolkata, India.
The notably inclusive post-Taliban political system may not all together wither away, but retaining its fundamental character will certainly be far more difficult in years to come. The worrying aspect is lack of sustainable consensus on an alternative but inclusive political framework that could help restore internal socio-political balance of power. This basically means Afghanistan would remain in an extended state of transition.