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Welcome to #AFGPanel and Ramadan Mubarak to all celebrating the holy month! 1/n
Since our last panel, we’ve seen #Afghanistan’s govt & the #Taliban finally exchange prisoners as a confidence-building measure for the peace process, albeit in small numbers. But we’ve also seen an uptick in violence & the number of #COVID19 cases. 2/n
In the meantime, Afghan leaders @ashrafghani & @DrabdullahCE still haven’t been able to form an inclusive government & the threat of a massive US aid reduction continues to hang over the country as a result. #AFGPanel 3/n
In addition, the debate over the nature of #Afghanistan’s government and constitutional distribution of powers was reinvigorated by a recent op-ed in the @nytimes by @AhmadMassoudoff. #AFGPanel 4/n https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/opinion/afghanistan-peace-talks.html
For the next hour, I have the distinct honor of hosting a discussion on these issues with some impressive panelists. We’ll discuss the US- #Taliban agreement, the nature of governance in #Afghanistan today, & the impact of #COVID19, along w/answering your Qs. #AFGPanel 5/n
Our panelists, in order of tweeting appearance, are: @Afghan_Policy, who consults at various govt levels in #Australia, is a long-time observer of #Afghanistan politics, & wrote a great paper on the US- #Taliban agreement for @AISS_Afg. #AFGPanel 6/n https://www.aiss.af/aiss/news_details/opinions/5e68e767af9f0
. @a_a_jackson, Research Associate @ODIdev, who has done a lot of fantastic work on local governance in #Afghanistan & recently completed her dissertation @warstudies! #AFGPanel 7/n https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/12/the-talibans-fight-for-hearts-and-minds-aghanistan/#
& @JarrettBlanc, Senior Fellow @CarnegieEndow, former coordinator @StateDept for the JCPOA & former acting special representative for #Afghanistan & #Pakistan—who just published a great article on AFG & #COVID19. #AFGPanel 8/n https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/04/14/afghanistan-and-coronavirus-pub-81523
Before I turn it over to the panelists, here’s how we’ll be doing the discussion: each panelist will begin with an opening tweet thread—I’ll link to those in this thread. After their opening remarks, I’ll moderate a Q&A. #AFGPanel 9/n
PLEASE DM ME YOUR QUESTIONS so I can pose them to the panel in an ordered way. If you reply directly in this or the panelists’ threads, we may not respond. Also, please be civil & respectful in your Qs/comments. #AFGPanel 10/n
With that, I’ll ask @Afghan_Policy to kick off the discussion with his opening thread! #AFGPanel 11/n
Here are @Afghan_Policy’s opening remarks. #AFGPanel 12/n https://twitter.com/Afghan_Policy/status/1253671987206975488?s=20
Many thanks for those insightful thoughts @Afghan_Policy! I’d like to next ask @a_a_jackson to provide her opening thread. #AFGPanel 13/n
Here are @a_a_jackson’s opening remarks. #AFGPanel 14/n https://twitter.com/a_a_jackson/status/1253673309738319872?s=20
Many thanks to @a_a_jackson for those insights! I’d like to next ask @JarrettBlanc to provide his opening thread. #AFGPanel 15/n
Here are @JarrettBlanc’s opening remarks. #AFGPanel 16/n https://twitter.com/JarrettBlanc/status/1253676902189010944?s=20
Many thanks for those thoughtful remarks @JarrettBlanc! #AFGPanel 17/n
I’d now like to open the Q&A portion of our discussion. We have a lot of great Qs that have come via DM over the past few days! I’ll post the Qs & link to the As in this thread. #AFGPanel 18/n
1st Q is for @Afghan_Policy: What do you see as a workable dispute resolution mechanism for the peace talks? Some have suggested the possibility of a third party mediator. Do you think that would work? Who could effectively play that role? #AFGPanel 19/n
2nd Q is for @a_a_jackson: What role does #Afghanistan's Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) play in terms of either improving or worsening local governance? #AFGPanel 20/n
3rd Q is for @JarrettBlanc: In #Afghanistan there’s a new trend initiated by @FForotan where Afghans speak about their red lines for the return of the #Taliban. What do you think are the USG red lines regarding the TB & a peace settlement? #AFGPanel 21/n
