After listening to Episode 9, I found out that peace talks with the Taliban have hit setback after setback, and some have seemed especially calculated and intentional. For example, the leaks about the U.S.-Taliban peace talks; when the Afghanistan High Peace Council head and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated, right before international peace talks were set to begin in late 2011. Then in 2013, the Afghan government, the U.S., the Qataris and the Taliban are working to allow the Taliban to have a political office in Qatar. Then the Taliban violates the ground rules and labels the office as the ‘Islamic Emirate.’ Karzai is upset, and the Taliban feel humiliated over a misunderstanding. Talks halt again.
Serial 2 The Golden Chicken Response
In the second episode of Serial 2, issues about freedom of the press and finding reliable journalistic sources is explored through contrasting stories surrounding Bowe Bergdahl’s capture by the Taliban. Narratives throughout the podcast, whether given by the Taliban of Bowe’s capture, or depicted through reactions to his disappearance from fellow soldiers, contrasted with the Wikileaks account, show that even with all the technology at our disposal to search and share information, sometimes factual truth and emotional story have effectively the same outcome.
Serial 2 DUSTWUN Response
This is the first in a series of posts about Serial 2, a podcast focused on the war in Afghanistan. It centered around Bowe Bergdahl, and I wrote responses to the podcast for my first semester International Relations major-required course, Introduction to World Politics. We learned about the international state system, and challenges to international […]
