On 2 August 2023, the NESA Center for Strategic Studies held a Washington Seminar discussion in Washington, D.C. The seminar presented a conversation between Associate Professor Daniel Curfiss and Dr. Hassan Abbas. The afternoon ended with a question-and-answer session with 17 attendees from 12 countries.

^{Dr. Hassan Abbas speaking during the Washington Seminar.}

The talk and conversations during question-and-answer revolved around the Taliban policies and approaches since they returned to power in Kabul in August 2001. Dr. Abbas shared his findings from his latest book, “The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan After the Americans Left,” published by Yale University Press earlier this year. He emphasized the need for continuing to engage with the Taliban while, in parallel, staying focused on ensuring that groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS cannot use it as a sanctuary to conduct transnational terrorist activity.

Read about the last Washington Seminar held in May 2023

The views presented in this article are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.