Talk of Peace and Peace Talks in Afghanistan: a Political History, 2001-2019

Abstract

Inspired by the Peace Talks between the United States and the Taliban, which begun in secret in Qatar in July 2018 and come to a halt in September 2019, this thesis studied the idea of peace in Afghanistan from the perspective of evolution of U.S. attitudes towards the Taliban and thus the possible influence of such attitudinal changes in ultimately bringing about a peace accord to war-torn Afghanistan. Aside from the changes in attitudes, the all-around focus on the necessity of peace has been revolutionary in the sense that it not only attracted the attention of national and international bodies and media, but also lead to a nationwide grassroots activism by the Afghan citizenry. Although, there are different dynamics to the perceptions about the Taliban as terrorists, enemy, and ultimately political adversaries, the 14-month process of U.S.-Taliban Peace Talks demonstrated both this evolutionary change in U.S. perceptions, but and also showed that Afghanistan’s National Unity Government (NUG) had a weak to non-existent role in the peace process and Peace Talks. This thesis concludes that the 2018-2019 talks, despite having apparently failed, have nonetheless been a promising beginning of potential real negotiations among the U.S., the Taliban and the NUG.