Explainer: What leverage do US, allies have over the Taliban?

Western leaders believe the Taliban can be pressured into abandoning its hardline agenda because it needs foreign aid.

The United States and its allies may have left Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban but they still have “leverage” to make the armed group honour commitments to allow people out of the country, according to US President Joe Biden. This was echoed by US officials and other Western leaders who believe the Taliban can be pressured into abandoning their past policies with carrot-and-stick measures given Afghanistan’s outsized dependence on imported energy, food and foreign aid, as well as its shaky economy. Here are some of the levers the West has to pressure the Taliban to honour women’s and human rights and cooperate with other countries: