The notion of sovereignty was brought to question countless times in Bergdahl’s case and can thus be an example of the difficulty within the discipline of international relations.Respecting the legal equality of states is important to the functioning of International Relations but at the same time, the notion of sovereignty is continuously being questioned as states try to find loopholes to this supposed equality in times of crisis. In Bergdahl’s case negotiations were necessary to the functioning of sovereignty yet, the very concept of sovereignty harms negotiations and cooperation because states are more focused on their own gains and are less willing to compromise because there is no legal state that can take them on without putting the sovereignty of all states at question.
Early on in Bergdahl’s case, there were larger negotiations and talks at stake between the United States and the Taliban. Although there were efforts to get Bergdahl home there were numerous other areas that the United States had their energy focused on. The fact that Bergdahl fell in the backdrop of other diplomatic talks was likely a reason for the long process of recovery he went through. It was a game of sorts that both sides wanted to use to benefit themselves and their respective goals.
In the midst of talks, there was significant pushback however by people within the United States army being unwilling to talk to what they classified as terrorist groups, namely the Taliban. A proponent of diplomatic negotiations was Richard Holbrooke who tried making the basis of the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan one of diplomatic relations. There was less of an acceptance nationally to this concept however which made diplomacy with Afganistan difficult then and most likely also now. Holbrooke felt that political strategy was being dominated by military force. The notion of respecting the individual sovereignty of states relies heavily on diplomacy and it was this point which Holbrooke wanted to make a reality in the region. Holbrooke, however, passed away before peace talks could result in peaceful and successful results for both states. His passing is mentioned in Serial as a hindrance to further diplomatic relations as no individual came up after him as a strong proponent of diplomacy in the region. Instead, a fragile diplomacy was created in the wake of his passing with a council created and more meetings but no treaties signed to enact change in Afganistan or recover Bergdahl.
The United States recognizing the Taliban through negotiation processes as though it was a state is another issue that comes up when learning about Bergdahl’s case. By engaging in discussions and negotiations, the Taliban was essentially gaining sovereignty in a sense despite not being a state. This was especially seen in talks that allowed for the creation of Taliban headquarters in Qatar, giving them legitimacy but then questioning their actions based on the name of the headquarters. The Taliban had raised a flag with the name, “Islamic Emirate” even though during the negotiation process they had been told not to. the reason for this was because the United States did not want the Taliban to present themselves as an alternative government. The flag of Islamic Emirate was taken down and years of effort was derailed. Essentially communication had been faulty and both parties ended up feeling wronged. The negotiation process in sovereignty clearly proved to be problematic within Bergdahl’s case. This effort to establish peace should have given way to Bergdahl’s freedom but instead, it fell to nought because of the complexities of negotiations.
Despite the talks going on with the Taliban and the United States, other states with interests in Afghanistan were left uniformed of the talks being held. Pakistan, Germany and the United Kingdom, all states that in their sovereignty had a right to know were kept out of discussions for the sake of smoother negotiations and because the Taliban was not a state. If anything the Taliban was classified and still is seen as a terrorist group and therefore not a group states should be addressing.
Some of the biggest negotiations on the table during the talks were exchanging 5 Taliban prisoners for Bergdahl. Outside looking in the exchange seems unbalanced but when considering it through the lense of the five year period of such long and complicated negotiations it makes more sense. The exchange of soldiers was a question to state sovereignty however and required going through many loopholes. Uncertainty and distrust between parties in processes like this put the notion of sovereignty at risk. It is for this very reason that confidence building measures and other diplomatic measures happen along the way to make negotiations through state sovereignty possible.
