Why no one can afford to call off peace talks in Afghanistan

IT HAD LOOKED like a complete rupture. In early September President Donald Trump tweeted that he had not only cancelled a summit with negotiators from the Taliban, but also “called off peace negotiations”. The hopes that had been swelling that America and the Taliban would find a way to end Afghanistan’s long, gruesome conflict were dashed. Instead, America seemed to be resorting to unilateral measures, trimming its forces in the country from 14,000 soldiers to fewer than 12,000.

Yet this week America, the Taliban and Afghanistan’s American-backed government were in contact once again. The proof was a rare hostage swap. Kevin King and Timothy Weeks, an American and an Australian, were abducted by gunmen in 2016 while teaching at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, the capital. Now they are to be released in exchange for Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government in a deal brokered by Zalmay Khalilzad, America’s pointman on Afghanistan.