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Matthew Feldstein '21

It has recently been announced that American and Taliban officials have tentatively agreed to a framework of a peace deal, possibly leading to the end of the war in Afghanistan. The roadblocks to the peace deal from either side are the fact that the Taliban want a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country and that the United States wants guarantees and enforcement procedures to ensure that Afghanistan won’t become a breeding ground for terrorist activities by groups such as Al-Qaeda. Another roadblock is that these current negotiations are leaving the Afghani government feeling as if they’ve been left out and are losing any negotiating power and input in the policies that will directly impact their country. Negotiating with the Taliban to end the current conflict will be beneficial for the United States troops based in Afghanistan without the input of the Afghani government in these negotiations the situation may collapse the moment U.S. troops leave. While I believe that these negotiations can overall be highly beneficial to the United States I am not entirely hopeful that any major progress will be achieved without massive concessions from both sides. And after almost two decades of fighting it is doubtful that either side will be willing to give much ground.

Reference Article from The New York Times

Matthew Feldstein
Gettysburg College Public Policy Council