Publication

This brief offers an opinion of what type of issues need to be addressed in order to 'talk' to the Taliban, as US President Barack Obama has suggested in his new approach of engagement in the region. Among these issues is the understanding that the Taliban is not a monolithic group, rather one composed of at least two main factions and various sub-factions. While the author is skeptical of the success of such an approach, he argues that assuming the Taliban agree to attend a roundtable of talks, as a theoretical minimum, the Afghan national government, the US, NATO, Pakistan and Afghani tribal chiefs should all be involved.