The United States and NATO are withdrawing their forces from Afghanistan, leaving the country in a difficult, albeit not entirely hopeless situation.
On the one hand, the armed conflict in ... ... highly centralized form of government (which is very ineffectual for many reasons, but partly because it is overly centralized).
Russia’s Interests and Position
Reuters/Abdul Malik Watanya
An Afghan policeman watches as a tractor
ploughs over poppy ...
Afghanistan After 2014
With the American contingent of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) almost out of Afghanistan, analysts in Russia and other countries are quick to review Washington's errors in the context of Moscow's experiences 1979-1989.
Next December,... ... active in the country. The new mission’s status has not yet been defined, largely because of President Karzai’s refusal to sign a security agreement with Washington and its NATO allies that would give the remaining foreign troops immunity from ...
The New Five-Year Plan for Russia-NATO
No conceptual document of the Russian Federation – neither the ... ... NATO continued practical cooperation in what they considered critical areas, such as Afghanistan. It became clear that even facing such a conflict situation, Russia and... ... the European missile defense issue should be resolved within the framework of Russia-USA relations, and NATO is well aware of this. As the Permanent Representative of Russia...
... on the Pashtuns, while Russia – on Afghan Tajiks and Uzbeks in the North. However, there always exists the danger that different as well as similar geographical priorities can lead to fiercer rivalry between outside actors in Central Asia and Afghanistan.
For example, there are fears in Russia that the USA after 2014 would shift their main focus to the more stable North of Afghanistan and to Central Asia. This can aggravate Russian-American strategic rivalry.
In which spheres can Russia cooperate with the West in resolving the Afghan problem?
Below,...
