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11 MUST READS TODAY

Saturday
Sep 28, 2019

If America plots an Afghanistan exit, who gains and what does that mean?

Early this month, America’s top diplomat for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, announced that the U.S. had finalized an in-principle agreement with the Taliban that could pave the way for President Donald Trump to slowly withdraw troops and fulfill a campaign promise ahead of the 2020 election. Then Trump declared he was calling off negotiations with the Taliban following a series of violent attacks by the militant group in Afghanistan. At the same time, he revealed that he had earlier planned to host the Taliban leadership — and Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani — at Camp David to announce the deal with the group.

The rapid moves resemble the climactic stages of an intense chess game with the Taliban and the U.S. each trying to out-negotiate the other, even as both want the same goal: an early end to America’s longest-ever war. It’s a war that has dragged on for 18 years, claiming the lives of more than 2,300 U.S. soldiers even as the Taliban and other militant groups have ground the world’s most powerful military to a stalemate.

2	Provocateurs

Provocateurs

The Mystery PR Man — or Three — Behind Taliban Propaganda

Is he real or fake? One man or many? Nobody knows for sure about Zabihullah Mujahid.

Zabihullah Mujahid has been the Taliban’s mouthpiece for 12 years, yet he might not even be a real person. His Twitter account has more than 65,000 followers, but it’s unclear if it’s operated by several members of the Afghan Sunni extremist group or one.

Most suspect the former, but when I called “Zabihullah Mujahid,” the man who answered swore it was his real name. We spoke just after President Donald Trump promised to leave a small contingent of troops behind in Afghanistan. “We don’t interfere in American affairs, so they have no right to interfere in ours,” he tells me, calm and collected. “Afghanistan is our country.”

3	Fast Forward

Fast Forward

The Road to Peace in Afghanistan Passes Through China

The U.S. has been turning to its great rival, China, as the best bet to ensure peace in the war-torn nation.

When Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, touched down in Beijing in June, he and 12 of his colleagues were greeted by Chinese officials and treated like state guests. China is rounding up millions of its own Uighur Muslims and locking them up in internment camps. For the Taliban, though, Beijing rolled out the red carpet.

China only announced the visit by the Taliban after the team headed by Baradar had left the country, and still hasn’t revealed who represented Beijing in those talks. But days later, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad announced that his latest negotiations with the Taliban had been his most successful yet. Khalilzad then flew to China for a meeting later that month.

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4	Provocateurs

The Taliban's Hidden Moderate

An outsider turned deputy political head, Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi is now central to ending the war … eventually.

Good Sh*t

Our 10 Must-Read Stories — the OZY Highlight Reel

From mapping voter apathy to making ugly fruit juice, here is the best of OZY this week.

6	Politics & Power

Who Cares: Inside America's Apathy Belt

In an OZY exclusive analysis, we find the blind spots in voter turnout across America.

7	Fast Forward

The 'Waste' Food Industry for the Wealthy

Can sleekly packaged juices and snacks made from produce waste convince the West to throw away less food?

Acumen

America to China: It's Not Us, It's You

U.S. opinions about Beijing are being swayed by geopolitics — and not in a positive way.

Good Sh*t

Fighting Drug-Resistant Malaria Where It Lives

On the border between Thailand and Myanmar, a combination of quick treatment and proactive therapy is reducing the deadly spread.

10	Fast Forward

The Next Battleground for Abortion Rights: Morocco

The North African country is emerging as a key battleground on abortion, with an increasingly assertive movement seeking a break with conservative laws.

Flashback

How the Yakuza Helped Inspire Pac-Man

From Nintendo to Namco, the Japanese mob had its fingers in the video game industry from the very start.

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'Suspicious Minds' Sparked Rock's Most Unforgettable Comeback

Opinion

After the Longest War