How the US can escape the 'Graveyard of Empires' called Afghanistan

Afghanistan has long been called the "Graveyard of Empires." That sobriquet usually refers to the British Raj of the 19th century and the failed Soviet experience in the 20th century

The problems in Afghanistan often feel intractable, like a knot of countless ropes bound together. Every time a strand is pulled, another part of the knot tightens up. Currently,  the Taliban refuse to have talks with the Afghan government, which they label a puppet regime; the Kabul government insists that any power-sharing agreement allow limited numbers of Western troops to remain; the Pakistanis, who have long sheltered Taliban leaders, are unwilling to fully encourage a peace settlement; the US and its NATO partners are sick of war and want out; the Russians play a complex double game, sometimes encouraging the