There has finally been a breakthrough on the Afghanistan peace front—the Afghan government and Taliban representatives have announced that they have reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks.
This is the first written agreement in nineteen years of war—previous attempts have always been thwarted at the last minute, mostly because of the refusal of the Taliban representatives to accept any official seal of the Afghan government. It seems that the delay in such an agreement was finally pushed through by the US exerting some pressure and the current Trump administration wanting to rush through as many developments as it can before the official transition to power.
This is a good step. The slow pace and breakdown in negotiations could not have gone on for longer. It is a welcome respite that the two staunch opponents have granted each other some recognition in the form of an agreement and talks can now focus on substantive issues, rather than just bickering and refusal of acknowledgement.
Yet the substantive issues continual many stumbling blocks of their own. Most glaring is the issue of the legitimacy of the Afghan government, which seems to diminish with every passing day. Just the time it took to reach this agreement with the Taliban is evidence of the general narrative of the Taliban, premised on the Afghan government’s rapidly decreasing power and control.
Yet this main issue, the tussle of power between the Afghan government and the Taliban summarises the current situation in Afghanistan in a sentence and will take its time to smooth out. For now, this initial agreement is a good step to iron out the looming, much more major problems lying ahead.
https://nation.com.pk/04-Dec-2020/a-small-step
A Small Step :edit in The Nation, Dec 4th, 2020
There has finally been a breakthrough on the Afghanistan peace front—the Afghan government and Taliban representatives have announced that they have reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks.
This is the first written agreement in nineteen years of war—previous attempts have always been thwarted at the last minute, mostly because of the refusal of the Taliban representatives to accept any official seal of the Afghan government. It seems that the delay in such an agreement was finally pushed through by the US exerting some pressure and the current Trump administration wanting to rush through as many developments as it can before the official transition to power.
This is a good step. The slow pace and breakdown in negotiations could not have gone on for longer. It is a welcome respite that the two staunch opponents have granted each other some recognition in the form of an agreement and talks can now focus on substantive issues, rather than just bickering and refusal of acknowledgement.
Yet the substantive issues continual many stumbling blocks of their own. Most glaring is the issue of the legitimacy of the Afghan government, which seems to diminish with every passing day. Just the time it took to reach this agreement with the Taliban is evidence of the general narrative of the Taliban, premised on the Afghan government’s rapidly decreasing power and control.
Yet this main issue, the tussle of power between the Afghan government and the Taliban summarises the current situation in Afghanistan in a sentence and will take its time to smooth out. For now, this initial agreement is a good step to iron out the looming, much more major problems lying ahead.
https://nation.com.pk/04-Dec-2020/a-small-step
Published in Pak Media comment, Pakistan, Paktalibanization and Talibanisation