The Department of Political Science of the University of Kateb and the Department of Political Science of the Islamic Azad University, Kabul Branch, held a joint seminar entitled “Afghanistan, Peace and Future Scenarios” on October 12, 2019 at Kateb University.
The Seminar was attended by Dr. Ali Asghar Dawoodi (Islamic Azad University), Dr. Faramarz Tamana (President of Afghanistan University) and Dr. Mohammad Musa Jaffari (Vice Chancellor of Kateb University).
At the beginning of the program, Mr. Ali Ahmad Yousufi, President of Kateb University while welcoming guests and participants, he pointed to the current situation in Afghanistan and the questions and ambiguities surrounding peace in Afghanistan, and ascribe the holding conferences and scientific meeting to explore the dimension of peace an essence for Afghan society. Explaining the relationship between peace and the goals of sustainable development, he pointed to the role of the university and scientific institutions in sustainable development, and noted the serious contribution of the Kateb University to this national program.
In continuation, speakers spoke at seminar and Dr. Ali Asghar dawoodi spoke about “Iran’s role in establishing peace in Afghanistan”. He emphasized the positive role of Iran in establishing peace in Afghanistan in the context of cultural and historical commonalities between the two nations. Although Dr. Davoodi did not deny the connection between the Islamic Republic of Iran and part of the Taliban, they said that this connection could not be used to destabilize Afghanistan in any way, because due to its long borders with Afghanistan, instability in Afghanistan means insecurity and Iran will suffer from instability and war in Afghanistan.
The second speaker was Dr. Faramarz Tamana. In his remarks, “Afghanistan and Nowhere in Peace”, he spoke of the ten locked gates of peace. If science and research fail to find keys to these ten closed gates, Afghanistan’s path to peace will continue to lead to Turkestan. On top of each of these gates, there is a question of peace, and the scientific answer to that question will be the key to opening the same gate. Each of these questions can be the subject of a master’s thesis. These ten key questions are:
– Who is leading the peace negotiation and with who? Which part od the government with which Taliban group (ideologues, warriors or criminals)?
– What is the issue and outcome of peace? Participate in power, hand over power or disarmament?
– What is the post-peace plan and the position of non-Taliban terrorist groups in peace talk?
– To what extent do the parties to the peace process have a serious desire for peace?
– To what extent have the parties to the peace reaches a common understanding of the concept of peace? Do they have a single definition of peace, its mechanisms and consequences?
– To what extent is peace in Afghanistan a “security” issue, and to what extent deas it have overt and covert dimension of “identity”?
– Are the current efforts to achieve peace, from a methodological and experimental point of view, correct and lead us to the desires result?
– Security or insecurity: Which one has advantages for some senior Afghan politicians?
– Are the actors involves in peace (the Afghan government, the United States, the Taliban and other major actors) honest with Afghan people and peace?
– Is peace possible with this large number of domestic, regional and international actors?
He stressed that peace in Afghanistan needs to be fundamentally organized and managed, and that the peace process needs to be divided into three stages: peacebuilding, peacekeeping, and peace creating. Also, the Taliban should not be divided into three groups: ideologue, warrior, and criminal. Our efforts to bring peace should not be classified into three levels: national, regional, and international. If they are not connected, there will be no practical and reliable mechanism for achieving peace in Afghanistan.
Dr. Mohammad Musa Jafari, Vice Chancellor of Kateb University, gave a speech entitled “Internal and External Factors Affecting Peace in Afghanistan and the Scenarios Ahead”, different from the previous two speakers. At the beginning of his speech, Dr. Jafari stated that, unlike Dr. Dawoodi and Dr. Tamana, who mostly pointed out the do’s and don’ts of peace in Afghanistan, he wanted to talk about possible existence and possible scenarios. Therefore, in order to understand peace in Afghanistan, two levels of internal and external analysis and their impact on each other must be studied in order to better understand the current situation and the scenarios ahead. Analyzing the internal factors influencing peace, he pointed to the progress of peace studies and the latest generation of peace studies, focusing on simultaneous political and social efforts to achieve peace in countries involved in internal or external conflicts. The experience of the United Nations and the international community since World War II has shown that peace cannot be expected in conflict-affected countries without education and socialization. Dr. Jaffari stressed the indifference of the Afghan government in the last 18 years to the issue of peace education in society, noting that it is obvious that the current scenario is not promising under this situation. The political process of peace will continue, but if peace education and the training of balanced people in society are not pursued, peace will never be established in Afghanistan. In the second part of his speech, he focused on the role of external factors in peace in Afghanistan. According to him, although peace is an essential need for the people of Afghanistan, the approach of neighboring countries and the world to the issue of Afghanistan has nothing to do with ensuring peace for Afghanistan. What is important for neighboring countries and the great powers is to strike a balance in the region and in Afghanistan, so it is obvious that the function of war and peace in Afghanistan is to balance the relations between regional and global competitors. There is no country for peace in Afghanistan. In the light of such a realistic analysis, it is unlikely that peace won’t be achieved in Afghanistan until the government is weak and balancing the region has a direct impact on the country’s political life. Dr. Jaffari referred to the efforts of the President of the country in the last five years to form a centralized and strong government that can reduce the influence of external factors, but it seems that the function of the national unity government will not only lead to the formation of a strong government but the foundations of nationalism were damaged. In this regard, the predictable scenario of Dr. Jaffari, especially after the first phase of the peace process, in which the United States will reach an agreement with the Taliban, is the continuation of conflicts and rivalries between regional powers and external interveners, and the current elections with participation. Its low voter turnout is unlikely to lead to a strong government.
After the speeches and at the end of the program, the meeting ended with questions and answers from the speakers.
Afghan Peace
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