Leaders | Talking chop

America will have to resume negotiations with the Taliban eventually

It cannot win the war in Afghanistan by force of arms. But it should not cut and run

FOR MONTHS America and the Taliban had been haggling over an agreement to end their 18-year war in Afghanistan. A deal was in sight. But then President Donald Trump learned that a Taliban bomber in Kabul had killed an American soldier, as well as 11 other people (see article). “I immediately…called off peace negotiations,” he fumed on Twitter.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Talking chop”

Growing barriers: Why Europe’s single market is at risk

From the September 14th 2019 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Leaders

Four test tubes in the shape of human figures, connected hand in hand, partially filled with a blue liquid. A dropper adds some liquid to the last figure

How to improve clinical trials

Involving more participants can lead to new medical insights

Container ship at sunrise in the Red Sea

Houthi Inc: the pirates who weaponised globalisation

Their Red Sea protection racket is a disturbing glimpse into an anarchic world


Donald Trump will upend 80 years of American foreign policy

A superpower’s approach to the world is about to be turned on its head


Rising bond yields should spur governments to go for growth

The bond sell-off may partly reflect America’s productivity boom

Much of the damage from the LA fires could have been averted

The lesson of the tragedy is that better incentives will keep people safe