Afghanistan: Can social gains of last 20 years survive Taliban rule?

In a rugged valley on the eastern edge of Afghanistan, Gul Nasar has seen his village grow and prosper since a U.S.-led military invasion toppled the Taliban in 2001.

Yet he could not be more concerned today, about which of those gains – if any – encompassing education, health care, and the economy, will endure renewed Taliban rule.

As disappointment with the first taste of Taliban control seeps into Mr. Nasar’s village, manifestations of such alarm are echoing across Afghanistan.

Many Afghans see the hard-won progress of two decades jeopardized by a return to the heavy-handed rule of the archconservative jihadis, whose ranks include many who seem ill-prepared to take on the burden of governing.

The danger to women’s rights, the Taliban’s perennial dependence on Pakistan’s intelligence service, and the naming Tuesday of an all-male, Taliban-only interim government have prompted days of street protests in Kabul and other cities that

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