Oriana Skylar Mastro, The Costs of Conversation: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime (Cornell University Press, 2019).   The peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban raises a lot of questions. The most important question is this — what took so long? Both sides knew that a decisive victory was impossible. At the same time, the contours of a negotiated settlement were visible years ago. Nevertheless, the conflict endured for nearly two decades, and thousands of lives were lost. Afghanistan is not the first example of the United States being reluctant to negotiate an end to a conflict. The … Continue reading How Can Negotiations Bring Wars to an End?