Ashley Jackson

IEA "would like to stress to the new American president-elect and future administration that implementation of the agreement is the most reasonable and effective tool for ending the conflict between both our countries" http://alemarahenglish.net/?p=39175 

Important b/c (a) not only do they recognize Biden here (b) they also seem to be signalling that they need reassurances he will not yield to the govt's overly optimistic thinking on the US halting troop w/drawal, etc

The worrying thing is that both sides are waiting for a clear signal from the US about what, if any, Afg policy changes will happen under Biden. This isn't a top policy priority. So they could be waiting for a while. Which means...

Spoilers on both sides can use this uncertainty to gain new ground. The risk of misperception/miscalculation is now exponentially larger, as we see both sides projecting wishful thinking and worst fears onto the US amidst this uncertainty.

It also, undoubtedly, puts the US team in Doha in an even more difficult position (as if things weren't challenging enough already). What they need is the outgoing/incoming administrations to strategize and act as one on this, which will be tough given this circs...