Analysis by PATH Scholars
“If there is a lesson from the Taliban negotiations, it is that waiting can result in a worse deal and that a bad deal may be worse than no deal at all. At the end of the day, there aren’t any shortcuts to negotiations or real options for how to resolve the conflict in Somalia without them.”
“Rather than sign on for an indefinite and costly full-scale presence, the United States should look to a middle strategy for securing its interests: a continued but limited U.S. counterterrorism commitment coupled with a greater role for India in assisting Afghan forces to ensure that al Qaeda does not regroup and that the Islamic State does not spread its wings.”