Afghanistan under the Taliban five years on: an assessment Dr Davood Moradian, Director, Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS)

Afghanistan, widely regarded as the “graveyard of empires”, has now been characterised as a “graveyard of human rights”, a “hell for women” and a “haven for numerous terrorist groups” under the Taliban's ethno-theocratic rule, according to leading United Nations and international figures. The question remains whether it can restore its pre -“modern” identity as a melting pot of cultures and civilisations.

Dr Davood Moradian is an Afghan politician. He served as Chief of Presidential Programs for President Hamid Karzai's office and Senior Policy Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Afghan capital Kabul. He also worked as Head of the Strategic Studies Center under the Foreign Ministry, and is currently the General Director of Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS).

Davood was born in Herat Province, in western Afghanistan and comes from a Tajik, an ethnic background. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of London, in the fields of international relations and international law and obtained his PhD from the University of St Andrews, where he also taught international relations.

His thesis focused on a comparative study of the conception of punishment in the traditions of ancient Greece, Islam and international criminal justice. He is fluent in Persian and English, and also knows some Pashto.