John Kerry and the Afghan Stalemate

The secretary of state has to push bitter presidential rivals to reconcile

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (left) talks with Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah at a press conference with candidate Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Aug. 8Photograph by Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

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September 18, 2014 at 6:47 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the September 22, 2014 issue of businessweek.

Three months after Afghanistan’s presidential election and two months after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brokered an agreement to resolve the dispute that arose from it, the country’s new president has yet to take office. Announcement of the official winner keeps getting delayed.

Afghanistan can’t afford this deadlock, and Afghans don’t deserve it. The presumed winner, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, has the most to lose from this stalemate and thus the most responsibility for resolving it. But Kerry and Ghani’s rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, have roles to play as well.