Sitting with the Enemy: How to Integrate a Former Violent Group into Government
Abstract
It has been 17 years since the deployment of the United States armed forces to Afghanistan on 7 October 2001, and American military forces continue to operate in Afghanistan in a conflict with no foreseeable end. One way for the U.S. to withdraw is to cooperate with former belligerents in an attempt to stabilize the government of Afghanistan. This is problematic but other states have integrated former violent groups into government as a means to end the violence. Therefore, this thesis analyzes how to integrate a former violent group into government, and how those processes can apply to integrate the Taliban back into the government of Afghanistan, and end the conflict. The thesis analyzes four cases, namely the FARC and IRA as a success, and the MILF and Hezbollah as a mixed success to integrate into government. Both the governments and violent groups had to agree to negotiate peacefully, and each violent group had to cease violent and coercive acts. Both parties made concessions on issues such as violent groups giving up ruling by Sharia law, and governments allowing the possession of arms, while other groups conceded to disarming. All four groups integrated into government in varying degrees, and this thesis provides recommendations to integrate the Taliban back into the Afghanistan government.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 15, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1051721
Entities
People
- Bernabe F. Whitfield
Organizations
- National Defense University