The Asia Foundation Predictions for 2021
The Asia Foundation’s 18 country representatives offer their predictions of the stories that will dominate the news from the Asia-Pacific in the coming year. In Korea, an unequal, K-shaped recovery with “kimchi characteristics” is occurring, with starkly opposite realities between North and South Korea at one level, and within South Korea at another.
Afghanistan
Abdullah Ahmadzai
Already reeling in 2020 from the impact of Covid-19, a deteriorating economy, and rising insecurity, Afghanistan enters 2021 with a top priority of reducing and eventually ending the violence by securing a peace agreement with the Taliban. Peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban resumed on January 5 in Qatar, and these talks are expected to determine Afghanistan’s future, including the country’s political system. More than ever before, political actors involved in these negotiations must act resolutely to ensure transparency in the peace process ..
January 22, 2021