New report uses PA-X data to envision a peace agreement for Afghanistan
The RAND Corporation has published a new research report, Envisioning a Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Afghanistan, which presents a plausible final comprehensive peace agreement for Afghanistan, based in part on data from the PSRP’s PA-X Peace Agreements Database.
The report includes analysis of realistic compromises, presented in the form of a complete peace agreement text. Authors Laurel E. Miller and Jonathan S. Blake produced the text on the basis of research on the interests and views of the conflict parties, comparative research on past peace agreements from around the world, and extensive consultations with officials, former officials, and experts associated with all the parties and with other interested governments. This research includes a comparative analysis of peace agreements that relies heavily on data from the PA-X Peace Agreements Database, as presented in Chapter 4.
PSRP welcomes this new report and is pleased to see PA-X being used as a resource in this way.
Report summary:
Throughout years of halting attempts to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan, the conflict parties have articulated only the barest outlines of envisioned outcomes. By not spelling out their preferred terms for peace, the parties have reinforced resistance to a peace process and fed fears of what compromise with the enemy might bring. An effective peace process will require filling this gap. With the aim of sparking the imaginations of policymakers on all sides of the conflict and others interested in encouraging negotiations, this report paints a detailed picture of a plausible political settlement.
To provide concrete ideas and options for the results of peace talks, the authors chose to write an agreement rather than write about one, translating their research and analysis into the format of a comprehensive peace accord. They researched the conflict parties’ probable goals in a peace process, studied past peace agreements for Afghanistan and for many other countries around the world, and conducted confidential consultations with people associated with the parties, interested governments, and experts. The agreement text lays out realistic compromises on the most important issues that could satisfy the parties’ interests and stand some chance of actually being implemented.
Download Envisioning a Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Afghanistan for free from the RAND website.