Trump’s Return to the White House; What Policy Can Be Expected Toward Today’s Afghanistan?
Bayan News – With Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, speculation has emerged among social media users and Afghan political activists regarding the possibility of a tougher stance toward the current Kabul government.
Donald Trump, after defeating his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris, will once again assume the U.S. presidency. He was the one who initiated three years of negotiations with Taliban representatives (now the current Kabul government), culminating in the signing of the Doha Agreement between Trump’s envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Taliban.
The agreement, signed by Khalilzad, U.S. representative under Trump, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the current Taliban deputy prime minister, led to the collapse of the Afghan republic and the Taliban’s return to power after twenty years.
In this regard, some American analysts believe that Trump’s administration may be more inclined to engage with the Taliban.
Michael Kugelman, an American analyst, wrote on the platform X that Trump might praise the Taliban for their battles against the ISIS group.
This expert, who also directs the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, said on Wednesday (November 6), “In Trump’s next administration, we might witness a greater U.S. willingness to engage with the Taliban. I think he might commend them for their fight against ISIS-K, as Trump was keen on gaining credit for containing ISIS.”
Meanwhile, Omar Sadr, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, commented that Trump’s victory in the election could benefit Afghanistan.
He stated that Kamala Harris made no mention of Afghanistan during her campaign, whereas Trump criticized the manner of the U.S. troop withdrawal and threatened to dismiss those responsible for the Afghan crisis.
Sadr added, “From a geopolitical competition perspective, now that the U.S. is focused on ending the Ukraine war, it will have more capacity to address other issues. As long as the U.S. is preoccupied with Ukraine and Gaza, Afghanistan will never be a priority.”
However, some Afghan social media users believe that with Trump’s return to the White House, stricter policies will be imposed on the Taliban, as the current Kabul government has not complied with the Doha Agreement.
Officials in the Taliban’s interim government, however, have consistently stated over the past three years that they have adhered to their commitments under the Doha Agreement. Nonetheless, the Taliban’s interim government has indirectly welcomed Trump’s possible victory in the U.S. presidential election, asking him to approach mutual engagement with realism.
