The Pulse | Society | South Asia

Can Discussions in Cambridge Help Afghans Build a Post-Taliban Future?

Thousands of miles from Afghanistan, prescriptions are being written by Afghans for the country’s future – a future without Taliban rule. 

Jesus College, Cambridge

In the past, too many plans for Afghanistan have been designed far from the people expected to live under them. On the surface, the Cambridge Afghanistan Series, organized by the Mosaic Global Foundation, may seem to be more of the same. But the series is genuinely attempting something different, which is not to hand people of Afghanistan another foreign-made political formula, but to create a space in which Afghans themselves can identify the principles, institutions, and sequence required to reclaim their political future.

On September 4 and 5, the Mosaic Global Foundation will convene the fifth Cambridge Afghanistan Series (CAS V) at Jesus College, Cambridge. It will bring together Afghan political voices, civil society actors, human rights advocates, academics, and other stakeholders to discuss pathways toward peace, inclusion, and prosperity. 

At CAS III in 2024, six major political factions, including two major armed resistance groups, presented their visions for Afghanistan. An independent examination found that, despite their public divisions, more than 90 percent of their proposals overlapped in substance. CAS IV in 2025 began a more open discussion of the remaining disagreements.

I participated in CAS IV in 2025. I did not see complete unity, nor did I expect it. Afghanistan’s political actors carry different histories, represent different constituencies, bear different grievances, and have different ideas about the state. What I saw was something more modest but genuinely hopeful as major political currents, civil society, and human rights advocates from different ethnic backgrounds and communities gathered to discuss the future of their country and search for an Afghan-led solution.

At a time when the Taliban has tried to erase political plurality inside Afghanistan, the sight of Afghans arguing across their differences, without denying one another a place in the conversation, offered a glimpse of another political culture. At CAS IV Afghans discussed a wide range of topics tied to the future of their country while celebrating their culture with traditional food and music on a night they named “Poetry Night.”     

A working group, facilitated by Mosaic, produced a Comprehensive Composite Roadmap, or CCR, at CAS IV in 2025.

The CCR emerged from a process that began at CAS III in 2024. Six major political groups were invited to present their strategic proposals, while an expert panel reviewed 12 roadmaps and proposals in total. The dialogue revealed more than 90 percent overlap among these initiatives in their strategic positions. An independent assessment commissioned by Mosaic subsequently confirmed this finding.

Following that assessment, an Independent Working Group was formed to consolidate the different proposals. It gathered in total 21 roadmaps and proposals from political groups, civil society organizations, and resistance groups and synthesized them into the CCR.

Ahead of CAS V in 2026, the consultation process is continuing and expanding to include specialists, human rights organizations, and religious scholars, or ulema. The aim is to ensure that the CCR incorporates contributions from all strata of Afghan society and reflects as comprehensive and inclusive a range of perspectives as possible.

The CCR rests on three non-negotiable commitments: Afghanistan must have a government chosen by its people, human rights must be respected, and equality – including gender equality – must be guaranteed. Around those commitments, it proposes a broader transition based on national dialogue, regional peace dialogues, and international consensus through a United Nations-led process.

Its central mechanism is a proposed Political Convergence Framework. This would bring together anti-Taliban armed resistance groups, political parties and platforms, civil society and human rights organizations, women’s movements, religious scholars, youth, journalists, professional groups, and diaspora representatives. Its initial responsibilities would include adopting a founding charter, creating a joint secretariat, drafting a detailed transition plan, coordinating internal resistance and civil action, and conducting regional and international diplomacy.

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