The Use and Power of Stories in the Afghanistan Conflict
On July 4, 2019, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) organized the launching ceremony for the Farsi translation of the book "Taliban Narratives: The Use and Power of Stories in the Afghanistan Conflict” authored by Professor Thomas H. Johnson, non-resident senior fellow at AISS and professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. The book is translated into Farsi language by Ferdaws Kawish, deputy Editor-in-Chief of Hash-e-Subh Daily Newspaper and published by the department of publications of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS).
In this book, Thomas Johnson introduces the narratives of the Taliban group in their soft war against NATO and the Afghan government. In this book, he outlines the Taliban's propaganda warfare and intelligence operations tools.
Professor Johnson introduced the book during the event and briefed the audience of its contents via a Skype call. He explained how the Taliban use religion and culture to produce their narratives. Professor Johnson also said that he believes the Taliban have won the information war against the Afghan Government and its NATO allies, asserting the effectiveness of the Taliban’s use of Jihad and Pashtunwali in their war of words against the Afghan and U.S. governments.
Ferdaws Kawish, translator of the book, explained why the book ‘Taliban Narratives’ is a significant work. He said that throughout the years, we have studied the conflict with the Taliban from military perspective, but this is the first research that has paid on Taliban’s war of information in Afghanistan.
Dr. Omar Sharifi also spoke about how narrative of war was produced before the Taliban. He said that the narrative of Jihad and martyrdom was built during the cold war. The Taliban keep using the same narrative of Jihad and Islam which is widely accepted in Afghanistan.
Tawab Ghorzang spoke about the narrative of Taliban before and after 9/11. He also spoke about the importance of the book ‘Taliban Narratives’ for the Afghan government’s propaganda machine.
The event was attended by representatives from the Afghan government, Parliament, civil society, academia, and media agencies. The event was followed by a lively Q/A session.
Those interested to read the Farsi translation of the book can access the book from Azem Publishers in address and Phone number below.
Azem Publisher, Street 5 of Silo, next to Sang-Kash'ha Mosque, Kabul, Afghanistan Or Azem Publisher in Street 3 of Joyye-Shir Bookstore, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Phone Number: 0776121151