This article details a recent meeting between Taliban leadership and Afghanistan resistance fighters who opposed Taliban rule and fought against them. The resistance fighters were forced to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August. The resistance group was invited to have a meeting with the Taliban in Iran, a perceived neutral ground between the two factions. The Taliban have stated “They can return to Afghanistan without any worries” the reasoning for this is that there is no real reason for opposition. This meeting is incredibly important because it is the first time the Taliban have attempted to negotiate with their opponents since the takeover. Conversations like these are pivotal for the Taliban’s objective of reforming Afghanistan and making it “whole” again. Efforts like these are to ease the transition of power from the old government to the new one. Should the Taliban succeed in their efforts a unified Afghanistan without internal strife would dramatically change the power within that region. Afghanistan would be yet another regional power within the middle eastern shelterbelt. A united Afghanistan could potentially attract China with their one belt one road initiative. As Afghanistan shares a border with China and is already a member of the BRI. This partnership would allow for Chinese influence to expand across the middle east, likely doing to Afghanistan what they did to Pakistan. Where China would build a massive amount of infrastructure in exchange for Chinese business to mine the rare earth minerals in Afghanistan. Relating to our class is the way that Afghanistan has handled the restructuring of its government and its foreign policy. After the violent take over the Taliban have appointed a foreign minister to handle these conflicts. This is significant because it shows that the Taliban are attempting to take a new more diplomatic approach to their government. This is Afghanistan’s first step to becoming a more active international actor within its region.
