Get Tough With, But Also Work With, The Taliban
President Joe Biden faces the unfinished business of a long, half-solved American war in Afghanistan. For him to complete the victory,he has to untangle the root causes of the conflict. By Wahab Raofi As U.S. President Joe Biden takes office, he will find an old dossier on his desk, and he’ll have to decide what to do about it. It’s the Afghanistan case, and it could become his first foreign policy crisis. Bidenis familiar with the issue.Hewatched the Afghanistan problem heat up throughout his eight years as Barack Obama’svice president, but now he finds himself personally confronted bya half-solved war. His predecessor, Donald Trump,signed an agreement with the Taliban in Februaryof 2020 to completely withdraw all U.S.troops from Afghanistan. Although thousands of U.S. troops have come home, about 2,500 U.S. military members are still there. For Joe Biden to close the page on this thorny issue, he will need to tackle the root cause of the protracted conflict. What effective measures...