On June 14th, Prof. Theo Farrell, Dean of the School of Law, Humanities and Arts at Wollongong University in Australia, visited CIBOS and held a keynote lecture entitled “Invincible: Social Resources, Military Adaptability, and Afghanistan Taliban Organization”. The lecture was hosted by Dr. Zhang Yuan and attended by teachers and students from Wuhan University China Institute of Boundary and Ocean studies (CIBOS) and Institute for International Studies (IIS).

The Taliban has been heavily bombed, but it has not disappeared. It has recovered and is making a comeback in Afghanistan. Why? After giving a brief account of the bombings in Afghanistan, Prof.Theo Farrell raised the question. Prof. Theo Farrell put forward his opinion: The reason why the Taliban can make a comeback is because of its own social resources and military adaptability, in addition to the support of the international community. To explain the social causes, Prof. Theo Farrell mainly explained from the four aspects: the influence of the Soviet war, Gazai’s closed political system, vanguard team and reconstruction of the Emirates. Prof. Theo Farrell also explained the Taliban’s strong military adaptability from four aspects: battle setbacks, political and military leaders, concentration and new ideas.

（Prof. Theo Farrell）

Prof. Theo Farrell also emphasized that the United States’ strategy of defeating the Taliban through bombing is undesirable. Since Mr. Trump came to power, three main measures have been taken against the Taliban. First, the United States forced the Taliban to surrender by exerting more pressure on Pakistan. Second, the United States sent at least 3,900 soldiers to fight in Afghanistan. Finally, the United States also conducted aerial bombardment of the Taliban’s drug laboratory. However, Prof. Theo Farrell believed that the Taliban did not completely obey Pakistan. It is a wrong way to put pressure on Pakistan. Combatting Afghanistan will inflame the Taliban's combat effectiveness. The attack on drug labs will in many cases hurt civilians. During the interactive exchange, Prof. Theo Farrell also shared with teachers and students how he conducted the study in the areas under Taliban control in Afghanistan and discussed why Western countries continuously project their own strength in Afghanistan.

（Rewritten by Chen Panpan）

(Edited by Fu Shanshan)