Washington is openly negotiating with a jihadist organization for the first time. If public talks between the United States and the Afghan Taliban experience a measure of success, they could provide a template for bringing other jihadists forces around the world into the political mainstream. The key will be to disentangle nationalist jihadist forces from al Qaeda's transnational jihadist agenda. After a yearlong lapse in negotiations, the White House announced Tuesday that American officials would hold direct talks with representatives of the Afghan Taliban on Thursday. The announcement coincided with the opening of a political bureau in the Qatari capital by the Taliban. These two developments came on the same day the International Security Assistance Force completed the handover of security responsibility to Afghan National Security Forces.