Qatar has been chosen as the seat of fresh US-Taliban negotiations in order to keep the still-skeptical Afghan government at arm’s length (despite the pretense of “Afghan-led” talks), and to insulate the Taliban negotiators from Pakistani and Saudi pressure. Meanwhile, even as a civil-military showdown in Pakistan compounds Washington’s regional challenges, the new US push to contain Iran threatens to fuel greater turbulence in neighboring Afghanistan.
美国该地区的特使马克•格罗斯曼已经与塔利班举行了一系列会谈。美国和塔利班新一轮谈判的地点选在了卡塔尔，一来是为了防范仍然持怀疑态度的阿富汗政府（尽管谈判假装由阿富汗领导），二来是让塔利班的谈判人员免受来自巴基斯坦和沙特阿拉伯的压力。与此同时，虽然巴基斯坦文官和军方之间的摊牌会使美国面临的地区挑战更加复杂，但是美国遏制伊朗的新行动会导致阿富汗的邻国更加动荡不安。