Since Zalmai Khalilzad, of Afghan origin himself, was appointed the US Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, he has been seeking a solution to end the conflict and war in Afghanistan, in light of his Afghan nationality as well as his knowledge of the Afghans.

Considering the negotiations held in Qatar and followed in Abu Dhabi and due to be held in Jeddah in the future, it can be said that Khalilzad wants to convince the Taliban that they cannot come to power through the military option, so it is better for them to give in to the American plan. According to the US plan, the Pashtun state in Afghanistan plus 4 to 9 ministries would go to the Taliban to persuade them to end the war and become a political movement in Afghanistan.

In that case, given the base of the Taliban, it is possible for them to come to power through democratic mechanisms in the presidential, parliamentary, Senate, local, state, and provincial elections.

In this regard, the Taliban will probably adjust the condition it has set on a full withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan before any talks with the Kabul government. In fact, the United States has agreed to withdraw 7,000 troops from Afghanistan in the first phase, and probably in the later stages, both sides will ease their terms. This means that the Taliban will eventually accept a limited number of US troops in Afghanistan, and the United States will no longer resort to the military option to remove the Taliban.

The United States seeks to empower the Taliban in the first phase, and next, if the Taliban came to power through the elections, Washington will accept their role. As a result, Zalmai Khalilzad is working behind the scene to strike a deal between the Taliban and the central Afghan government.

Of course, in addition to Khalilzad’s initiative as the US envoy on the Taliban, Tehran and also Moscow have put in place initiatives. On the one hand, Iran has entered into negotiations with the Taliban to find a solution. In this regard, Mr. Abbas Araqchi (Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs) traveled to Kabul after talks with Taliban representatives in Iran. On the other hand, Russia has an initiative on the agenda.

Moscow is following to hold a confab on Afghanistan similar to the Astana Summit on Syria, with the help of neighboring countries including China, Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asian states.

Now, these questions arise as to which of these initiatives is more appropriate to apply and whether these three initiatives could be merged into a single initiative? In response, it should be said that this will depend on the future situation, but if these three initiatives become one, then the United Nations should take the initiative.

In fact, now, with a view to achieving stability and peace in Afghanistan, it seems that there should be a tripartite agreement; first, among the political, partisan, and ethnic groups, the Taliban, the central government, Jihadists and other internal movements; secondly, at the regional level between the neighboring countries of Afghanistan and countries that have influence in Afghanistan, such as India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan; and thirdly at international level, that is between the UK, France, Germany, the United States, Russia, China and other important countries. If these three groups are able to reach a consensus, there is hope that the dilemma of Afghanistan will be solved.

On the other hand, when it comes to the future of Afghanistan, it should be noted that this country has been in war for the last four decades; Moreover, all the known political systems in the world came to power in Afghanistan during this period but failed. The current government in Afghanistan is a liberal democrat and Western-style technocrat. This is while the government has not been established in Afghanistan too.

Therefore, in order to examine the future of Afghanistan and the Taliban, these facts should be taken into account, but it is also true that the Afghan people are tired of war and bloodshed and a political solution must be found for this problem.

Of course, a question that is raised here is how to apply this political solution and guarantee it so that other countries would contribute to this process.

Ultimately, if a combination of the Taliban, the ethnic forces and the technocrats currently in power in Afghanistan is forged, then it might be possible to form a system in this country where the presidential system becomes a parliamentary system and a kind of federalism comes into being. In that case, each ethnic group can have the authority of the local government in their regions; then it is possible for Afghanistan to get closer to peace and stability.