Savvy A***Holes

 As the world watched in shock as the Taliban waltzed back into Presidential Palace in Kabul, the Taliban decided to throw another sucker punch to the rest of the world. They proceeded to do what they would stone people for 20-years ago when they were last in charge – they proceeded to invite the world’s cameras to a press conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc_Rre_lPto

 

The Taliban proceeded to do something that nobody expected to them to do at all. They started speaking words of comfort. The said that the rights of women would be protected within the laws of Islam (though they never specified whose interpretation of Islamic laws would prevail) and that they would not allow Afghanistan to used as a launch pad for attacks against other nations (or as expressed in the Israeli series Fauda – the crazies would be controlled).

The Taliban PR campaign wasn’t limited to the press conference. The Taliban spokesperson went as far as to call up a lady presenter to get himself interviewed by a woman:

https://www.businessinsider.com/taliban-female-afghan-reporter-in-person-tv-interview-project-moderation-2021-8

 

The fact that the Taliban have bothered to address the world media and have said all the “right” things has been as shocking as the ease of their military victory. While the Taliban were out saying all the right things to the international press, the American President and British Prime Minister were left looking rather clumsy and this televised exchange in the House of Commons indicates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sidjLMc3_c8

 

As shown by the pictures of Afghans trying to flee the country, it would appear that a good portion of the Afghani population aren’t buying into the “nice” words. The experiences of the last period of Taliban rule have given enough people to distrust the Taliban. There are signs such as the violence used against protestors, that indicate that the new image that the Taliban are trying to project is just that – an image.

You don't run away from people known for being nice

However, it’s still worth asking the question as to why a group that used to revel in their brand image of being the worst kind of religious zealots, even bothering to try and appear nice?

One answer could be that the group has learnt the power of public and international opinion. When they first took over, in the 1996, the only countries that recognised the Taliban government were Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. While countries around the world are more cautious about giving recognition to any Taliban government, there are potential scalps such as China (Second largest economy in the world and with a large and growing military), which has stated that it would be ready for “friendly and cooperative ties” with the Taliban:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_uN6809IL4

 

If the Taliban have realized anything, it is the fact that regimes that are recognised by the rest of the world have a higher chance of survival. Furthermore, diplomatic recognition from the "alternative" superpowers, specifically China or Russia would be, as the example of North Korea has show, a very good insurance policy.

Countries with good reputations also have an easier task in dealing with internal dissent and countries with a “moderate” image, generally speaking, have less issues with their neighbours. Being tarred with the same brush as Osama Bin Ladin and the gang at Al-Qaeda costs them the support from the only three countries that recognised them. 

Sure, good PR is only going to get so far and nice words in a press conference will only get one so far unless there’s some actions on the ground back up the words spoken (only countries with a hold on certain things can get away with a PR disconnect).

However, it should say something to the Western world and her allies that the Taliban are getting the value of PR. The USA had a president who called the press “Enemy of the People.” Reporters without borders have talked about the UK government giving “Vindictive” reactions to negative reporting on Covid.

If the big brand Western nations could snap at the press, Singapore went one further. We came up with a POFOMA law, which effectively gave any minister the power to decide what was fake news or not (so, woe betide anyone who wrote something a minister might not like on the day a random minister had a woke up on the wrong side of the bed.)

Open communication works. It should be a frightening sign when a group best known for brutal behavior understands that at a time when advanced nations seem to be forgetting about it.