Whose interest? Whose peace? An evaluation of Pakistan’s peace agreements with the Taliban in the tribal areas (2004-2015)

The Pakistani state signed a number of peace agreements with the Taliban between 2004 and 2015. Despite their significance, hardly any academic evaluations of these agreements exist. This paper assesses these peace deals from three perspectives: political settlements, culture and conflict resolution and cosmopolitan protection. We argue that they failed due to the following reasons: the Pakistani state was more concerned with the interests of the central government in Islamabad than those in the tribal borderlands; the agreements clashed with the unique tribal cultural code of Pashtunwali; and they represented a solution imposed on the tribal societies from the outside.