In EFSAS’ most recent interview, the organization’s Director, Mr. Junaid Qureshi, interviewed Ms. Nargis Nehan, Afghanistan’s former Minister of Mines and Petroleum, who now lives in Norway as a political refugee. Ms. Nehan remains actively engaged in developing solutions to the political quagmire Afghanistan finds itself in. She was invited to the recent talks between Western and Taliban officials held in Oslo but refused to attend on the grounds that the Taliban never really bought into political negotiations in the past. Based on this assessment, Ms. Nehan outlined that she did not oppose negotiations with the Taliban per se but that talks should be held based on the Taliban fulfilling predetermined conditions. Ms. Nehan argued that extrajudicial killings and incarcerations had once again become pervasive. The hope that pressure from the international community would produce a more moderate form of the Taliban has turned out to be futile. Regarding the Taliban’s treatment of women, she highlighted that violence against women was present outside of the ranks of the Taliban as well and that the Taliban in particular was shaped by a lack of exposure to empowered women, a normalization of violence following decades of civil war that has isolated Afghanistan from female rights gains elsewhere, and the patriarchal norms that continue to shape Afghan society. Anxious to not lose control over Afghanistan, the contemporary Taliban has not formalized the oppression of girls and women as it did between 1996 and 2001, also in order to project a more positive image to the international community.