AALS 2022 Hot Topic session: The Crisis of Afghanistan

The Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting 2022: "Freedom, Equality, and the Common Good"

January 5-9, 2022

 

"The Crisis of Afghanistan"

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In late August, 2021, U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan paving the way for the Taliban to assume control over the country. The event has been interpreted broadly as the end of American nation-building and rule-of-law development assistance abroad. While the effects of the U.S. pull-out are undoubtedly more complex, the end of the twenty-year U.S. occupation signals changing priorities in not just U.S. foreign policy but also attitudes toward international law.

This panel featured experts who discussed what the departure of the US and the rise of the Taliban mean for Afghanistan, the region, and the world. They examined current events from a number of angles, including the Taliban’s constitutional order, U.S. approaches to promoting democracy, Chinese inroads in international development and aid, and the role of Islamic law. They also addressed address a range of vital issues at the intersection of U.S. foreign relations law and international law, including the question of the Taliban’s legitimacy by the international community, the position of the U.S. in promoting law and order overseas in the Biden administration, an expanding Chinese sphere of influence in the region and what that influence means for development, peace, and human rights, the question of Islamic law and the various interpretations and applications of sharia in the Afghanistan context, and whether developments in Afghanistan mark a turning point for international law.

Panel members:

  • Margaret Woo, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law (moderator). 
  • Deborah Pearlstein, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy, Cardozo Law School.
  • Erik Jensen, Professor of the Practice of Law, Stanford Law School. 
  • Haroun Rahimi, Assistant Professor of Law, American University of Afghanistan. 
  • Matthew Erie, Associate Professor and Member of the Law Faculty, University of Oxford.