More than four years after the Taliban returned to Kabul, Afghanistan presents an unusual political experiment: a regime that has successfully monopolised power but has yet to evolve into a functioning state. The latest assessment by the UNSC's Monitoring Team underscores a central paradox of Taliban rule — the pursuit of absolute ideological control has strengthened authority at the top while hollowing out the very institutions needed for durable governance.

At the heart of the system lies an unprecedented concentration of power in the hands of Hibatullah Akhundzada. Unlike modern authoritarian leaders who rely on party structures, militaries or technocratic bureaucracies, Akhundzada governs primarily through religious authority. His leadership style reflects a deliberate rejection of institutional politics. Kandahar, not Kabul, serves as the nerve centre of decision-making, reinforcing a model in which legitimacy flows from clerical decree rather than administrative performance or public consent.

This approach has produced short-term cohesion but long-term fragility. Centralisation has minimised open dissent, yet it has also paralysed policy innovation. Ministries function largely as implementers of orders rather than problem-solving bodies. Even senior officials are constrained by an environment in which debate is viewed as disobedience and deviation as heresy. As a result, governance has become reactive, rigid and opaque.

The Taliban's internal structure further complicates this picture. While the leadership projects unity, power is unevenly distributed across factions.........

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