Analysis
Written by: Khalil Rahnavard
Introduction:
Narrative is not synonymous with a simple picture of events, but rather a selective, purposeful, and meaningful framework thru which political and intellectual actors organize their goals, highlight some elements and conceal others, in order to direct the audience’s perception, judgment, and position toward a direction determined by the narrative; or, if we interpret “narrative” in a slightly different sense, we can say that narrative refers to an intellectual framework thru which specific events are selected and interpreted in order to lead the audience to a specifically planned outcome.
Narratives about events force the audience to see the event in a certain way and to draw a specific meaning from it. Therefore, narratives are often not neutral but rather reflect the speaker/presenter’s position, interests, and goals. In contemporary politics, war is not only about weapons and geography, but also about values and intellectual dominance or conquest, with narratives serving as the means of transmission and confrontation.
In today’s world, narratives are the main weapons and tools of psychological warfare and intellectual dominance, as they can reverse realities in the political arena without physical warfare, change minds, or turn an event into success or failure. It often happens that after a field defeat, political actors turn to the battle of narratives because narrative is a form of cold war that can have an impact even without physical capabilities.
Alongside the physical war and conflict between the Islamic Emirate and the republican regime, a battle of narratives was also underway, but its strength was limited in remote areas because armed confrontation had become the only way to gain power and dominance, rather than narratives. With the fall of the Republic and the establishment of the new Afghan government, when the joint-stock company (Republic Regime) lost all physical resources and abandoned the field of armed confrontation, it immediately turned the narratives of fleeing officials into the main tool of alternative warfare.
Fugitive politicians are facing fragmentation and division, which is why they are still accompanying the scattered narratives in the war of narratives. They have lost the energy and raw materials to create new narratives because all the actions of the new government in Afghanistan are clear to the people, and nothing is hidden from the public’s eyes. For this reason, efforts to build a new narrative, which they repeatedly plan to publish from their foreign-based propaganda turbines, are facing obstacles, but they still do not give up on accompanying them.
The minds of the general public are often shaped not by direct analysis of events and reality but by frequently repeated narratives. When a narrative is consistently disseminated thru mass media, social media, and political networks, it gradually takes on the appearance of natural truth among the general public. Such narratives influence people’s beliefs, fears, hopes, political judgments, and stances, which is why opponents often work toward this very goal, interpreting every event according to their wishes and from their perspective, regardless of whether the event is positive or negative.
Narratives and Realities:
Opponents of the Afghan government have presented various narratives in the media, but below we present the main features and realities of five of the opponents’ narratives; we have tried to analyze and examine the narratives based on the principles of reality and impartiality.
First Narrative: Human Rights in Afghanistan Have been Widely Violated and are Still Violated
Fact: This narrative was created and is still being promoted by the same officials of the fallen republic who are raising the issue of human rights violations against the Afghan government on international platforms, in order to cool their grudges and cover up their past crimes. It is no secret to anyone that the current opponents, when they ruled Afghanistan, were involved in widespread human rights violations. Due to these violations, they have stepped back from the past and created a false and fictional narrative about the current government to cover it up.
During the fallen republic, foreign occupiers and then the leaders of the same illegitimate joint-stock company plunged the country into a brutal war, targeting and injuring hundreds of thousands of civilians in air strikes, night operations, and direct clashes. Under the rule of these current opponents, suspects were mistreated and severely tortured in national security and police detention centers, women were used as tools for foreign projects instead of being granted basic rights, and they were deliberately devalued in society. Prisons were filled with innocent people, and finally, such outrageous events occurred that, for any reason, were considered a violation and disrespect of human rights.
These same opponents, who were officials yesterday, were only superficial defenders of human rights on paper, but in practice, they were the biggest violators. Currently, the rights of all Afghans are protected within the framework of Islamic Sharia, and no one should be concerned about this because governance is transparent and everything is clear to the Afghan nation.
The false narrative of systemic discrimination, human rights violations, and limitations created by these same opponents of the Afghan government was intended to exonerate themselves and exert political pressure, so that they would not be the main focus of discussion on this issue and would not be tried in international courts. The reality of this narrative has become clear in the past four years under the new government’s rule, and the nation has understood that the opposition’s demands are against Islamic and national values. Similarly, the people have realized who the human rights violators are and who the protectors of human rights within the framework of Sharia are!
Second Narrative: Afghanistan is Isolated Internationally and Has not Yet Been Recognized By Many Countries
Reality: We describe the narrative of isolation slightly differently. First, there’s the general aspect that everyone observes, and second, there’s an aspect that those accompanying this narrative pay no attention to, but both aspects are interconnected. The first and general aspect of this narrative is that Afghanistan is not completely isolated, but rather Russia has recognized it and has political, economic, and technical relations with Asian and European countries. Both sides have opened embassies, representations of many countries are active in Kabul, and in practice, both sides are interacting.
Recognition is a political process, and if this process is not complete but interactions exist, it can not be interpreted as political isolation. Afghanistan has completed all the conditions for recognition, and perhaps after Russia, other countries will gradually come forward to recognize it as well. Afghanistan has close cooperation and good relations with many countries around the world, especially regional countries, in the fields of economy, politics, and security. Based on the field realities, this isolationist narrative is incorrect.
The second aspect of the above narrative is that Afghanistan currently has relations and positive interactions with NATO member countries and the United States, which is a significant achievement in a four-year diplomatic journey. This is because the United States and NATO member countries were involved in an illegitimate and fruitless war in Afghanistan for twenty years. The citizens of these countries fought, were wounded, and died in Afghanistan.
Beyond the ideological aspects, where most NATO member states oppose the rule of an Islamic Sharia system in Afghanistan, these same countries consider the current government of Afghanistan a reality and interactions with it a necessity of the times. However, they can not take steps toward closer ties and recognition because they fear opposition from their own citizens within their countries. This is because in 2001, there was a similar Islamic government that was overthrown by NATO member states. Therefore, they are taking gradual steps and also paying attention to domestic political considerations.
Third Narrative: With the New Afghan Government in Power, the Economy in Afghanistan Has Collapsed, and Poverty Has Increased
Reality: Afghanistan has faced endless and devastating wars in recent decades, with both external and internal factors contributing to them. Afghanistan has been extensively destroyed by warlords in these wars, particularly civil wars, and its institutions have been destroyed; economic resources such as agriculture, industry, trade, and the public market were rapidly depleted.
Under the rule of the fallen republic, a false form of economy was created. The foundation of this economy was in foreign hands and relied on foreign aid. No work was done to create a real form of the economy. Institutions were not fundamentally rebuilt for Afghans. Foreign aid was distributed among the republic’s joint-stock company and warlords. The government had gained an international reputation for corruption and ultimately hindered economic development.
Poverty has been a problem in Afghanistan for several decades. Governments have not done fundamental work in this area, which ultimately left this problem to the current Afghan government. This government worked to increase job opportunities to provide work for unemployed people. It formed a special committee for beggars, which is still active. During its activities, this committee collected around fourteen thousand beggars, of whom about six thousand were genuine beggars, and the rest were professional beggars. Genuine beggars are given a fixed amount of money each month, and efforts to prevent professional beggars are ongoing.
Also, although economic progress has been very gradual over the past four years, it is not false but real, and the government is doing fundamental work. Despite the World Bank and sanctions, Afghanistan’s economy has shown positive progress, which is significant. Recent reports from the World Bank show that Afghanistan’s economy has grown consistently in 2024 and 2025, driven by the expansion of agricultural production, construction, and some service sectors.
World Bank reports and other sources have confirmed that Afghanistan’s domestic revenues, such as taxes and customs duties, have increased, exports to foreign countries have risen, the agricultural sector has grown, and the construction and industrial sectors have also made exemplary progress in Afghanistan’s history, which is a positive sign of economic development. It is expected that with the blessings of Allah, nationwide security, and sound management, further progress will be made.
Therefore, we can say that this narrative of the opponents is also in conflict with the ground realities, as Afghanistan’s economy is taking steps toward improvement and leaving behind the misfortunes that these warlords brought to the Afghan nation. The warlords left tens of thousands of beggars and addicts for the new Afghan government as a result of their rule, destroyed job opportunities by not establishing institutions, and brought the country to the brink of a major disaster. This narrative does not concern the new government but rather harks back to the rule of the fallen republic.
Fourth Narrative: The Afghan Government is Facing Widespread Resistance From the Opposition
Reality: The claims of armed and political resistance that the opposition has been making repeatedly for over four years are limited only to the mental preoccupations of the opposition; in reality, there is no effective armed or political resistance against the Afghan government.
Resistance, freedom, resistance council, national(!)assembly, coalitions, groups, and parties that spread news of armed resistance have, in reality, been staging a number of incidents for some time, targeting public gatherings with the help of a few people in exchange for money, in order to spread fear and panic among the public or to prove their existence during political activities. However, that conspiracy also failed. Currently, the public is aware of the truth, and security agencies have been able to prevent such incidents completely. The military activities of these groups are controlled, and they currently do not have sovereignty over even a small portion of the country’s territory, which means the narrative of armed resistance can be considered a fictional claim.
Political resistance, on the other hand, faced continuous isolation over the past four years. Large secret and open meetings of opponents were held under various titles in Iran, Moscow, Turkey, Tajikistan, Pakistan, France, Austria, Germany, and other countries. The opponents held secret meetings with the ISI and other intelligence agencies around the world, and the number of fringe meetings also exceeded dozens. However, the final result of all these coordinations, meetings, and political dialogs was the isolation of the opposition groups. They were expelled from most countries in the region and the world and threw themselves into the lap of Pakistani intelligence for a final attempt.
The isolation of opposition groups is not solely due to external factors; their internal disagreements and divisions can also be considered major causes. Conflicts and disputes among opposition groups have led to severe fragmentation, causing any new coalition formed to fail immediately within days, or even hours, due to disintegration. The final example is what we can call the Coordination Coalition, which, upon its creation, separated Rabbani’s Jamiat party from the Resistance Council.
In a situation where the opposition is unable to form even a complete and unified coalition, how is it possible for their political resistance against a single, central, and powerful government to be even effective, let alone accompany their narrative of defiance? Political resistance is now at an impasse due to the opposition’s own inability. The narrative of armed and political resistance is a collection of lies aimed at confusing public minds and portraying Afghanistan’s current stable situation as unstable.
Fifth Narrative: Afghanistan is a Security Threat to the World and a Safe Haven for Irresponsible Armed Groups
Reality: This narrative also has several sensitive and important aspects; the opponents of the Afghan government, who have been ousted from power for the past four years and fled to foreign countries, portray Afghanistan as a safe haven for irresponsible armed groups and a security threat to the world in every conference, meeting, and statement. By repeating this narrative, they aim to provoke international countries and organizations to increase sanctions and political pressure on the Afghan government for this reason. This is something the world has been repeating since 2001, but they have not achieved any significant results.
Fugitive opponents, consumed by a fierce thirst for power, want to manage the world by accompanying such narratives, which would re-occupy Afghanistan and make them the alternative to the Afghan government and the security protectors of Islamabad, including Washington, if they come to power thru this occupation. These hopes are misplaced because the United States, NATO, and European countries no longer have the intention to intervene militarily, as these countries also lack military support, public consensus, and sufficient budget for the re-occupation of Afghanistan domestically.
Another sensitive aspect of the issue is that opponents of the Afghan government have recently gone to Pakistan after being expelled from countries in the region. Most countries have given them disappointing response, but their last hope is the support of the ISI. Therefore, the opponents, like the Pakistani military regime, also portray Afghanistan as a “haven for irresponsible armed groups and a threat to the world.” The opponents don’t calculate the disadvantages of supporting such narratives at all; they don’t pay attention to the aspect of this narrative that unites with a permanent enemy of Afghanistan for personal gain and stands against all national interests.
This narrative from the enemies is also false, purposeful, and propagandistic, like other narratives. The reality that ordinary Afghans, analysts, and experts observe inside Afghanistan is that no irresponsible armed group is active in Afghanistan, but a single government holds sovereignty, which, based on the Doha Agreement, does not use this territory against other countries. The narrative of irresponsible armed groups in Afghanistan is the narrative of the Afghan government’s opponents, and largely that of Pakistan, which in reality blames Afghanistan for its own military and political failures.
What Should Be Done?
Whenever we, as the general public, encounter narratives from the enemies of the Afghan nation, we must examine those narratives based on political performance and a set of standards. Before we understand what the narrative says, it’s important to understand why, by whom, against whom, for whom, and for what purpose this narrative is presented! If these questions are answered, the narratives of the opponents often lead us to points behind the narratives where rumors, distortions, exaggerations, and targeted propaganda are present instead of facts.
The purpose of such narratives is to confuse the public mind, weaken national unity, provoke emotions, distort facts, and protect political interests, which audiences should not easily accept and internalize. Opponents of the Afghan government want to use various psychological warfare tactics to gain power. A key tactic and tool of this warfare is the use of narratives, which they utilize with great skill.
Summary:
Narrative is not simply the name for a straightforward account of events but rather a purposeful intellectual tool used by political actors to capture public minds. In contemporary politics, particularly in the case of Afghanistan, the war is not currently military in nature, but a war of perception, interpretation, and mental dominance is ongoing. After the fall of the republic, political groups that lost their physical strength and resources have made narratives the main tool of alternative warfare. Opposition groups in the Afghan government are trying to distort facts, hide their failures, and direct public opinion toward their political goals thru media and propaganda networks, while the actions and situation of the new government are clear to the people.
The narratives presented by the opposition regarding human rights violations, international isolation, economic collapse, widespread resistance, and security threats are at odds with field realities and largely reflect the self-justification efforts of former officials of the fallen republic, political pressure, and attempts to regain power. In contrast, nationwide security has been established in Afghanistan, and economic activities, although progressing gradually, are real, international interactions are ongoing, and no irresponsible armed group holds sovereignty or operates freely. The public should evaluate narratives based on their source, purpose, and political objectives to avoid becoming victims of psychological warfare and to preserve national unity and stability.
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