Security and Political Developments in Afghanistan in 2014 and After : Endgame or New

The excerpt below introduces a book chapter written by Vanda Felbab-Brown for the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior anthology, Afghanistan 2014, published in March 2014. In this chapter, Dr. Felbab-Brown analyzes several key determinants of short-term and longer-term security and political developments in Afghanistan: the state of the Afghan National Security Forces, the adoption or rejection of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States by the Afghan government, and Afghanistan's presidential and provincial elections of 2014 and their impact on the political realm and institutional formation in Afghanistan. Felbab-Brown also draws implications for negotiations with the Taliban.