Some commentators are asserting that the Taliban’s need for basic administrative competence and financial aid will force them into a degree of moderation. Is that true?
No. The idea that the state is responsible for the comfort and prosperity of its citizens is relatively new. The older model—that the state is required to maintain a society that is pleasing to God—is the one followed by the Taliban. If the Afghan people are poverty-stricken, miserable, and righteous, that will be fine with them.
The real constraint on the Taliban will be the need to avoid provoking the Chinese and the Pakistanis, not success in providing material goods. Will they try to inspire Islamic revolutions outside their borders, with all of the risks that will entail, or will they settle for medieval squalor in one country? On that point, only time will tell.