Experts

Michael Kugelman

Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia

“This is a landmark deal. It brings Afghanistan closer than ever before to launching a formal peace process to end an interminable war. The US and the Taliban had a long and fraught negotiation. But as tough as it was, the next step will be even harder. A formal peace process will require a deeply divided Afghan political class to come together with a common vision toward peace, and the Taliban will need to agree to share power within a political system it has long rejected. In effect, the US-Taliban deal was the low-hanging fruit. Now the hard work begins.”