8am: With the fall of the previous government and the return of the Taliban group to power, the pace of holding international conferences on Afghanistan has accelerated. These conferences have aimed to attempt better engagement with the Taliban. If the world did not intend to engage with the Taliban, it would not have devoted all its efforts to holding conferences that have mostly been fruitless. Many of these conferences have been regional, with regional countries and Afghanistan’s neighbors participating, discussing the transition from a purely Taliban regime to a mixed system. Some conferences have been international, with major world powers from the East and West, including the United Nations, coming together to negotiate a way out of the current impasse in Afghanistan. Representatives from Afghanistan, sometimes from the Taliban and sometimes from anti-Taliban forces, have attended these conferences. However, some conferences have been held in the absence of both sides. Click here to read more (external link).