Geographically, the United States and Afghanistan are a world apart. Yet the US government fought two wars in Afghanistan in the past four decades. From 1979 to 1989, the US Central Intelligence Agency undertook the largest covert operation in its history—Operation Cyclone—in Afghanistan. And again between 2001 and 2021, the US military waged the longest war in its history in Afghanistan. During these military interventions, the US government also played a key role in two peace processes for a political settlement in Afghanistan.
This study is a historical account of the United States’ role in these peace processes: namely the Geneva Talks (1982-1988) and the Doha Talks (2010-2020).
The findings of this study show that the intended target of US involvement in the Afghan conflict was not so much the people or the internal political actors of Afghanistan. In 1979, the primary factor behind the US involvement in the Afghan conflict was the Soviet Union. Hence, the main target of the US role in the Geneva Talks was also the Soviet Union.
Similarly, the driving factor for the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was the presence of Al Qaida in Afghanistan. And therefore, the main objective of the US role in the Doha Talks was also Al Qaida. In both peace processes, the United States ultimately signed peace agreements after satisfying its main objectives, which was to exclude these external actors—the Soviet Union and Al Qaida—from the territory of Afghanistan.
Rahmat Hashemi successfully defended his dissertation on February 2 2024.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: "The Taliban’s perspective on the US-Taliban negotiations leading up to the US withdrawal in 2021. A substantial and methodological approach."
Evaluation committee
- Professor Artemy Kalinovsky, Temple University (first opponent)
- Professor Odd Arne Westad, Yale University (second opponent)
- Associate professor Ada Elisabeth Nissen, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
- Associate Professor Sunniva Engh
Supervisors
- Professor Hilde Henriksen Waage, University of Oslo
- Research Professor Kristian Berg Harpviken, PRIO