Youth Protest Movements in Afghanistan
The youth-led protest movements that emerged after the 2014 Afghan presidential election added a new dynamic to Afghan politics. Motivated primarily by widespread perceptions of injustice, exclusion and marginalization from governmental policymaking, and rapidly deteriorating economic and security conditions, the protest movements sharply criticized the administration of President Ashraf Ghani. This report examines the emergence of a new generation of youth activists in Afghanistan and the responses of the government and international community to those movements.
About the Report
Supported by USIP’s Asia Center and based on an extensive literature review and interviews with protestors, journalists, officials, and others in Kabul, this report explores motivations of Afghanistan’s youth activists and the effects of three recent protest movements.
About the Author(s)
Srinjoy Bose is a lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of New South Wales and a visiting fellow at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. Nematullah Bizhan is lecturer in public policy at Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre and a senior research associate in Oxford University’s Global Economic Governance Program. Niamatullah Ibrahimi is an associate research fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University.