Taliban Talks: The Completion of a Defeat?

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Abstract

In the context of the recently opened Taliban office in Doha (Qatar), and the start of talks between the US and political representatives of the Taliban movement, the following article will elaborate on the difficulties attached to the so-called "peace negotiation" process. The article contends that any agreement on power sharing will lead to political and military resistance, which in turn will undermine democracy and nullify all achievements regarding human rights and particularly women's rights. Therefore, armed confrontation will remain the norm. The main argument is that the Taliban as an anti-systemic and anti-democratic force is trapped in its own fundamentalist ideology and, in order to keep the movement going, it has to reject Afghanistan's current democratic system of governance. Because the Taliban's major goal is to re-establish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is absolutely incompatible with the interests of any other stakeholder in the Afghan imbroglio. However, in order for the US to ensure a safe withdrawal, Washington will remain ignorant towards this threat. In contrast, it offers the Taliban political participation which effectivel gives them the opportunity to undermine Afghanistan's political system from within. In brief, it will complete NATO's military defeat with a political one.