ISAS Briefs

The June 2013 opening of a Taliban office in Doha raised fresh hopes of a negotiated settlement of the Afghan imbroglio among certain quarters. That the process ended in a deadlock underlined the fact that the intent and negotiating positions of the parties in conflict remain the least understood. Why do the Taliban, willing to hold out an olive branch to the United States, continue to carry out such gruesome attacks inside Afghanistan? Is this a serious attempt by the United States to broker peace in Afghanistan or a desperate measure to extricate itself from the conflict theatre? Answers to these questions, to a large extent, define the complexities of the search for peace and stability in the war-torn country. It also bares the element of futility of talks, dialogue, negotiations with the extremists especially when the conditions and the time are not ripe for such peacemaking initiatives.