A Fascist Taliban?

Though there is a marked similarity in ideals between past fascist regimes and today’s Taliban, important differences between the two don’t allow the latter to be “officially” defined as fascist. It would seem from its actions that the Taliban desires the status of a fascist regime, but has not achieved this state to this point due to lack of control over followers and citizens. In what ways does the Taliban resemble fascist administrations of the past? The Taliban is violent, conservative, and youthful
Violent. While their methods differ slightly, it is characteristic of fascist governments and the Taliban to use violence in influencing followers. Due to the Taliban’s lack of an actual army, their means of exerting power on reluctant civilians are much more severe and open, employing such tactics as public executions and floggings. In a fascist system, a great deal more energy is spent on appeasing the people, though their threats are fairly transparent as well. For this reason, the violence caused by a fascist government is slightly more discrete so as to hide the true face of the leaders from the followers. There are great similarities though, in severity of punishment. In Moussilini’s Italy, for example, his Black Shirts “destroyed offices of socialist newspapers attacked striking workers, and forced socialists to drink castor oil.” By comparison, the Taliban almost seems gentle in carrying out public floggings and executions. It can be seen, that both groups use terror as a weapon against opposition.
Conservative. One of the more important distinctions of a fascist regime is a deeply ingrained conservatism and paternalism. In the past, this has been shown in aggression towards Marxism, or even as simply as in a more traditional role for womankind, where her only purpose is as a producer of children and caretaker for men. Racism is also hugely popular in that it eliminates minorities and strengthens the majority’s uniformity. This is shared slightly by the Taliban in that it promotes one sect of Islam above all others and preaches Shariah Law. It too opposes the education of women and instates a code of dress for them. In their minds, a woman is “worth” half of a man. In this way, the Taliban is successfully conservative.
Youthful. A seemingly negligible, but hugely significant detail of the Taliban and fascism is their mutual emphasis on the youth. Both of these groups rely heavily on a continuous stream of new followers to support their rampant militarism. They succeed only through brainwashing the younger generation to believe in their ideals and grow into young soldiers and “producers” for future campaigns. In old fascist systems, children were required to have notebooks covered in propaganda and to join youth groups that supported the fascist government. It might be said that the Taliban does something similar with the many Pakistani madrassas , schools where children are taught from the Qur’an. In this way, they share an emphasis on youth as the future of their form of government.
Yet, if the Taliban shares so much with fascism, what holds it back from actually becoming a fascist government? 1) Decentralization 2) No Expansionist Movement 3) Lack of Power
Decentralization. A centralized government is an absolute necessity to a successful fascist regime. Fascism gains much of its power from having a single dictator who makes all the decisions without opposition. This is demonstrated by the fascist symbol of the fasces, which are only strong when held together (thus, centralized). With an autocrat at its head, a fascist government has “strength in unity,” because there is no one to dispute the commands of the leader. None of this is present in the Taliban. Centered around numerous local warlords, such as Maulana Fazlullah in Swat valley, it does not act as a force united, but as many different, self-interested parties. This prevents it from claiming fascism.
Negligible Imperialism. Restricted by the many warlords, it is more difficult for the Taliban to expand, because it already wars for land within itself. It cannot seek to battle other countries for land without first having a homeland of its own. Without unity, the Taliban as a whole cannot be fascist; indeed, the smaller groups within the entire Taliban might be considered more fascist than the Taliban itself is. They are not so wholly lacking in this area though as in others as can be seen by the capture of the Swat valley. Should the Taliban make more catches like this one, it would display a much more fascist front.
Lack of Power. The Taliban fights to become the governing force in Pakistan, but has not yet achieved absolute power. So, while most fascist governments have an official military power, the Taliban is made up of guerrilla fighters. As long as it remains thus, the Taliban will not have the ability to demand anything of the populous and expect independent compliance – they need to supplement their orders with terror. This is not a totalitarian system. The Nazis in Germany, for example, “controlled the press and radio, and in general assumed police power over society.” Meanwhile, the girl’s school headmaster in Swat valley has the defiance to protest closing his doors, demonstrating that the Taliban has not sufficiently reigned in the people. In this state, the Taliban can hardly claim the title of government, let alone a fascist one.
So, while the Taliban seems to be trying to attain the seemingly unreachable state of fascism, it has both successes and failures. Though it has not achieved fascism yet, it is well on its way to getting there.