The Taliban are starting their fifth year of ruling Afghanistan. They have silenced internal dissent, tightened their control over Afghan life, secured recognition from Russia as the country's official government,

Over the course of the past four years since the Taliban took control of Kabul, plunging Afghanistan into a humanitarian crisis and stripping away women's rights, millions of Afghans who initially fled have now been expelled from Iran and Pakistan,

Russia and China have started to bring the Taliban in from the cold. The international community may soon have little leverage to pressure the group to change.