Peace in Afghanistan: The Bottom-up Solution
While the fights between the Taliban and the Afghan government seem to be endless, peace is in sight. Both pressured by the Trump administration, the Afghan government and the Taliban representatives started their historic peace negotiations in Doha, on September 12th 2020. Although Trump has decided to withdraw US troops out of Afghanistan, their job seems far from done. Afghanistan is still a very vulnerable country and seen as a failed-state by many. There is a small economy, almost no trade, and a lack of proper infrastructure. Since the Taliban - although fractured - is still active in Afghanistan, is the situation too volatile to begin peace negotiations? Or are these negotiations more promising than the previous ones? And why are women so crucial at the negotiation table this time?
To answer these questions, we have invited Joris Versteeg. Mr Versteeg, a former political analyst for the Dutch Ministry of Defence, works for the NGO ‘Talk For Peace International’. This NGO organizes peace talks with local Taliban forces and Afghan district governments, aiming to bring a bottom-up solution to the conflict, and is dedicated to promote the use of dialogue to improve people’s lives. During the event, Mr Versteeg will shed light on the current negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and whether these will finally bring peace to the war-torn country. Together, we will look at the future of Afghanistan and what the international community should and should not do to help the Afghan people. After the lecture, there will be a Q&A session for you to ask questions.
The lecture will start at 20:00 and last till 21:30. The link to the live stream will be provided by email. Please sign up for the lecture by filling out this Google form: