William Maley is Emeritus Professor of Diplomacy at The Australian National University. He is also the author of: Rescuing Afghanistan (2006), What is a Refugee? (2016), Australia-Afghanistan relations: Reflections on a half-century (2019), Diplomacy, Communication, and Peace (2021), The Afghanistan Wars (3rd ed., 2021), and Australia: The Politics of Degraded Democracy (2024).
Following a letter of demand from the extremist Taliban, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has moved to shut down the Afghan Embassy in Canberra from 1 July 2026. How this could serve any Australian ‘national interest’ remains a complete mystery.
