OxPol Blogcast showcases research, analysis, insights, and experiences from the members of the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), and specialist guests from the Oxford academic community and beyond. On this episode, OxPol Blogcast host Anastasia Bektimirova is joined by Faye Curtis, a DPhil International Relations researcher at the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), to discuss the effects of integration of women into previously all-male military units. Faye guides us through the ongoing debates over the risks and opportunities of such policy change, and discusses the contribution of her research which addresses the lifting of the ban on women in ground close combat roles in the British Armed Forces. In the second half of the episode, we get a glimpse of another …

In February 2020, the Trump administration made a deal with the Taliban. Under what became known as the Doha Agreement, the US and all foreign forces promised to depart Afghanistan by May 2021, so as long as the Taliban held up its side of the deal to 1) enter into peace talks with the US-backed Afghan government and 2) ensure Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists. So far, the agreement is technically being implemented. Peace negotiations began in September 2020, though they have yet to produce results. The Taliban have also stuck to the letter if not the spirit of the deal by holding off attacks against US and Allied forces (although attacks against the Afghan government and civilians have continued). However, with the May deadline fast approaching, President …