'A very different Afghanistan: Violence now linked to socioeconomic pressures'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Silvia Boccardi, freelance journalist based in Rome. Nearly five years after the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan occupies an uneasy position in international politics. As European governments increasingly seek practical engagement with the authorities in Kabul, questions persist over whether diplomatic contact can alleviate humanitarian suffering without conferring legitimacy upon a regime whose restrictions on women and civil liberties remain widely condemned.