article_snippet: The reality is that an agreement with the Taliban that is good for the Afghan government is probably impossible right now.
article_snippet: Negotiations to end the Taliban insurgency face a series of significant challenges, and an imperfect deal could harm Afghanistan's nascent unity government, encourage the formation of splinter groups of hardened fighters, boost existing terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIS and plunge Afghanistan into an era of renewed violence and instability.
article_snippet: Militarily, the Taliban is not the Afghan government's equal, but that does not mean the insurgents lack a strong negotiating position.
article_snippet: For a start, the international presence in Afghanistan is declining, freeing the Taliban to operate more openly in the rural corners of Afghanistan.
article_snippet: Meanwhile, Afghan security forces are being killed at rates that are probably not sustainable and civilian casualties are at an all-time high.
article_snippet: Most troublingly, Afghanistan's nascent unity government has yet to clearly demonstrate Afghanistan's nascent unity government ability to govern.
article_snippet: All this means that until Afghanistan's nascent unity government shows that the diverse interests within it can coexist, and it articulates a cohesive strategy to counter the Taliban, the insurgents can make a strong case for postponing peace in the hopes of a better situation in the future.
article_snippet: In the case of Afghanistan, there is no shortage of groups willing to absorb fighters, from outlaw bandit groups to al Qaeda.
article_snippet: It goes without saying that the spread of terrorist group ISIS's particularly violent form of extremism within Afghanistan would make an already complex and precarious security situation all the more so.
article_snippet: At the moment, the Afghan government is struggling to carry out existing policies, while juggling the country's many divergent interests.
article_snippet: Ultimately, the chances that talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban will succeed are remote at best.