U.S.-TALIBAN PEACE TALKS
BY LAUREN BATTEN
The Pacific Council recently hosted a discussion with Shamila Kohestani of the Democracy Council and Barnett Rubin of NYU’s Center on International Cooperation about the state of U.S.-Taliban negotiations in a recent webcast. The conversation was moderated by Thomas Zimmerman, director of programs at the Pacific Council.
Here are takeaways from the discussion:
“People in the Afghan government will have to interact with the Taliban in ways that the never had before, and the Taliban will have to interact with a broader population of Afghanistan than before, including young people, women, diverse representatives,” Rubin said.
“The majority of Afghans don’t want the Taliban to be in power, but are willing to listen to what they have to say, especially regarding women and minority groups as they have been the target since day one,” Kohestani said. “The Taliban should sit face to face with women, as women are still being stoned and punished for listening to music, singing, athletics, etc.”
“Will the Taliban be able to articulate their ideology in a way that is understood by women, minorities, and different generations?” Kohestani continued. “How will they want women to be a part of the Afghan government? The Taliban has not been able to provide anything to make Afghan women more comfortable about coming to the table. Women have been pushed aside before for the ‘greater good’ of the country/national security. Women’s rights have been compromised for broader promises of peace.”
Rubin argued that the Taliban is capable of delivering peace and has shown in the past that they can be nonviolent, but they seem to place more value on keeping their own organization united rather than achieving peace.
Kohestani argued that peace agreements with the Taliban may not decrease any Taliban violence, because guidelines on paper do not mean that society will change.
“It seems that Trump doesn’t care about the peace process,” Rubin said. “He just wants to withdraw U.S. troops [before the 2020 U.S. presidential election]. It would be a horrible decision to withdraw with no regard to the peace process. Troops should not be withdrawn before a peace settlement is in place.”
Both Rubin and Kohestani agreed that it would be a huge mistake for the United States to leave Afghanistan in the middle of a peace process and treat the Taliban as Afghanistan’s problem.
“Forty years of war has meant everyone in Afghanistan has lost an immediate family member,” Kohestani pointed out. “Afghans need to be able to overcome this pain to make peace with the Taliban, and this needs to be done properly through the government. Afghans need to accept this situation so that they can make sure it never happens again. It won’t be easy; it will take a lot of work. On the other side of the coin, the Taliban also has to be willing to foster peace. Implementation is going to be the hardest thing.”
“Afghanistan is landlocked with six immediate neighbors,” Rubin pointed out. “Afghanistan can’t develop economically without its neighbors. It needs to have good relations with all of its neighbors at the same time. Its economic well-being is intimately connected to its foreign policy.” Kohestani argued that neighboring countries have encouraged conflict in Afghanistan for their own interests.”
Watch the full conversation below:
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The views and opinions expressed here are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.
