Women's Rights and International Reputation in Afghanistan

• In Event: International Reputation Reimagined: Cooperation, Complexity, and Contestation

Abstract

After the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, many analysts focused on the starkly-negative consequences for women and girls that were likely to ensue. In this study, we examine how the Taliban has sought to manage its poor international reputation related to women’s rights (among other things) since its return to power in Afghanistan. To what extent is contemporary Afghanistan’s image shaped by its poor performance on women’s rights vs. other human rights and security issues? Does Afghanistan’s reputation shape its ability to access crucial economic assistance and foreign relationships? This study answers those questions using two types of data, both of which enable a comparison between Western audiences (which have been shown to reward countries for progress on women’s rights in the past) and non-Western audiences (which have less-frequently been studied on this topic). First, the study draws on a new dataset of global media coverage of Afghanistan since 2021. Second, it makes use of a cross-national survey experiment. The study establishes how various international audiences perceive, and respond to, a significant reduction of women’s rights in an authoritarian country.

Authors

• Daniela Donno, University of Oklahoma

• Sarah S. Bush, University of Pennsylvania

• Par Zetterberg, Uppsala University