So often, news is about the ways that violence is trying to subvert peace. But recent events in Afghanistan, of all places, are offering a glimpse of the reverse.

Reports from numerous media outlets suggest that the Trump administration has begun preliminary direct peace talks with the Taliban. They are the first such high-level talks in three years and mark a departure from the policy of previous administrations that only Afghanistan could lead negotiations. The moment has lit a spark of anticipation.

But this moment, most agree, grew out of something else: a unilateral, three-day cease-fire declared by the Afghan government during the Eid al-Fitr holiday last month. The response was extraordinary. Taliban fighters wandered into cities, where citizens and even local governors embraced them and took selfies. Insider reports suggest Taliban leadership was livid. Why? The Taliban have momentum, and peace could undermine that.

Yet it sprang up everywhere. “What happened over Eid was deeply subversive, politically and militarily dangerous to any party wanting to prolong the conflict,” wrote the Afghanistan Analysts Network. “It demonstrated that a ceasefire, held to completely by both sides, is possible. It revealed a strong peace camp among Afghans that crosses frontlines, and it opened up the imaginative space for Afghans to see what a future without violence could look like. Perhaps most significantly, it allowed human contact between enemies.”

It has also set a clear task for US and Taliban negotiators: What is the next deeply subversive act they can take for peace? 

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