Zalmay Khalilzad

President-elect Joe Biden leaves after speaking at an event at The Queen theater, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Trump's presidency not just a blip in US foreign policy

Jan. 16, 2021 1:08 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to scrap President Donald Trump’s vision of “America First” in favor of “diplomacy first” will depend on whether he's able to regain the trust of allies and convince them that Trumpism is just a blip in the annals...

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2020 file photo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center left, and his aides meet with Afghanistan's State Minister for Peace Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, center right, and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's peace negotiation team amid talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, in Doha, Qatar. Afghan negotiators are to resume talks Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, even as hopes are waning, and frustration and fear is growing over a spike in violence that has combatants on both sides blaming the other. The change in the U.S. administration is likely to drag out the opening days of the talks as both sides wait to see whether Biden will stick to the deal brokered by Trump. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool, File)

New round of Afghan-Taliban peace talks off to a slow start

Jan. 8, 2021 1:01 PM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The latest round of peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators that began this week in Qatar has been off to a slow start as concerns grow over a recent spike in violence across Afghanistan. The talks, which are taking place in Qatar where the Taliban maintain a...

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, left, talks with Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 at Miller’s military headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. The top U.S. military officer has held an unannounced meeting with Taliban peace negotiators to push for a reduction in violence in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Robert Burns)

After years fighting them, Milley talks peace with Taliban

Dec. 17, 2020 12:58 PM EST

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — In his three combat tours in Afghanistan, Gen. Mark Milley saw the Taliban as a formidable foe, one unlikely to “fade away in the dust,” as he put it in 2013. This week, Milley, now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sat across a negotiating table with leaders of...

In this photo provided by Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, right, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of a Taliban political team, arrive with other members of their delegations at the Foreign Ministry for talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. A Taliban team, led by the co-founder of the insurgent movement, arrived for talks with Pakistani government leaders amid growing calls for a reduction in violence in neighboring Afghanistan. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)

Taliban team in Pakistan as calls grow for Afghan cease-fire

Dec. 16, 2020 12:34 PM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Taliban team, led by the co-founder of the insurgent movement, arrived Wednesday in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani government leaders amid growing calls for a reduction in violence in neighboring Afghanistan. The visit came as the Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks in Afghanistan,...

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2020 file photo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, meets with Afghanistan's State Minister for Peace Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's peace negotiation team amid talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, in Doha, Qatar. A Democratic senator is calling on the State Department to prioritize the return of Mark Frerichs, an American contractor believed to have been taken by a Taliban-linked militant network in Afghanistan earlier this year. The letter from Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois comes weeks after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held what are likely his last meetings with the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators trying to hammer out a peace deal. It is unclear to what extent Frerichs, who is one of Duckworth's constituents, was discussed during those meetings. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)

US senator seeks update on contractor taken in Afghanistan

Dec. 7, 2020 5:44 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic senator is calling on the State Department to prioritize the return of Mark Frerichs, an American contractor believed to have been taken by a Taliban-linked militant network in Afghanistan earlier this year. The letter from Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois comes weeks after...

Members of the Taliban's peace negotiation team meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo amid talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, in Doha, Qatar. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)

US envoy: Afghan, Taliban team ready to set talks agenda

Dec. 2, 2020 2:09 PM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. envoy who brokered the ongoing peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban said Wednesday the two sides have overcome a three-month impasse and agreed on rules and procedures for the negotiations. The development is significant as it means the warring sides are...