Adam Baczko - Waging War by Law: The Taliban Courts in Afghanistan

Based on a decade of fieldwork across Afghanistan, The Taliban Courts in Afghanistan: Waging War by Law explores how the Taliban used courts to defeat militarily and technologically superior Western armies. While the international coalition implemented an inadequate and corrupt legal system, the Taliban established hundreds of courts in rural areas. By insisting on due process, impartiality of judges, and the enforcement of verdicts, this system of justice established itself as one of the few sources of predictability in the lives of many Afghans. Far from merely applying a religious norms, the Taliban used law to assert their claim to embody the state, disseminate their vision of society, and establish local legitimacy. This talk explores how legal institutions can become central arenas of contestation in civil wars, shaping not only everyday life but also the broader outcomes of armed conflict, offering insights into why the West lost the the war, and how the Taliban took over the country.