The Pulse

Fruitless or a Breakthrough? Making Sense of Ashraf Ghani’s Peace Offer to the Taliban

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The Pulse

Fruitless or a Breakthrough? Making Sense of Ashraf Ghani’s Peace Offer to the Taliban

Is the Afghan president’s bold gambit doomed to failure?

Fruitless or a Breakthrough? Making Sense of Ashraf Ghani’s Peace Offer to the Taliban
Credit: AP Photo/Hamed Sarfarazi

In his opening speech at the second meeting of the Kabul Process for Peace and Security Cooperation last week, President Ghani put forth an offer for peace talks with the Taliban. This is not the first time that the Afghan government has asked the Taliban to come to the negotiating table. From the Karzai administration to the Ghani presidency, many such overtures have been made to the Taliban, but neither party has seemed interested in giving these negotiations a real chance. Interestingly, earlier this year, following a string of attacks claimed by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghan officials, echoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, were reticent to hold talks with the group.

Afghanistan has been steeped in violence for the past 17 years, with future predictions offering no hope for respite: according to a recent threat assessment by the U.S. intelligence community, the security situation in Afghanistan is likely to deteriorate further this year while the Afghan National Army continues to struggle against the insurgents. In view of this dire security situation and Ghani’s surprising offer for unconditional peace talks with the Taliban, it is important to evaluate what is behind the most recent offer, what the Taliban’s response is likely to be, and what the NUG must do to push peace negotiations forward.

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