Panel Discussion: ‘US-Taliban Negotiations: Background, Process and Potential Impact’

The U.S. and the Taliban have been fighting for 18 years. White there have been a number of diplomatic attempts over the years to end the conflict, it was only in September 2019 that the Trump administration began public negotiations with the Taliban. What prompted the current U.S. administration to engage in dialogue with the Taliban and why would the Taliban agree to talk? How was the connection made between the parties and what specifics were discussed in these meetings? If the negotiations are successful, what is the potential impact on the U.S. relationship with the Afghan government, as well as the impact on the Afghan people, specifically on the woman of Afghanistan? Join us for a presentation with experts in the field, followed by Q&A with the audience.

Panelists include Annie Pforzheimer, senior associate at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and former acting deputy assistant secretary for Afghanistan, U.S. Department of State; Barnett Rubin, associate director and senior fellow, Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Program, Center for International Cooperation at NYU; Palwasha Kakar, senior program officer, Religion and Inclusive Societies, United States Institute of Peace and former Afghanistan director for Women’s Empowerment and Development, The Asia Foundation.

For more information, contact mideast@unc.edu.

Co-sponsors for this event include the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies; Department of Asian Studies; Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense; Chancellor’s Global Education Fund; Triangle Institute for Security Studies; Conflict Management Initiative; Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies.