AFGHANISTAN: POTENTIAL FIELD OF RUSSIA-U.S. REGIONAL COOPERATION
Abstract
Today cooperation between Russia and the U.S. in Central Asia, as part of the interna-tional efforts designed to neutralize the re-gional threats and challenges, is best described as spontaneous. There are, however, certain spheres in which their cooperation could be wider for the sake of regional stability. Afghanistan, which re-mains the main source of the destabilization threat, should become the main target of such cooperation.
Both countries need stability in this part of the world; they are united in their desire to cut short radical extremist activities and drug pro-duction in this country. In fact, this is a rare ex-ample of unanimity related to several points on the long list of international priorities. Their co-operation might even develop, sometime in the future, into a system of regional security concur-rent with the interests of both states and the world community. There is hope that these approach-es will be discussed, among other issues, at the Moscow Russian-American summit scheduled for July 2009.
Presidents Obama and Medvedev, the newly elected heads of the United States and Russia, told the world that the relations between the leading countries of the security structures (NATO, CSTO,and SCO) operating in Central Asia (and elsewhere) needed to be “reset.” This will give these coun-tries the opportunity to arrest their slide into another Cold War. In this context Afghanistan is practically the only field in which the interests of both countries related to the key issue of international security coincide.
The still unsettled conflict in Afghanistan and its echo can be described as a major negative fac-tor that undermines regional stability and affects the world community as a whole. So far, stability in Afghanistan is maintained by the U.S.-led counterterrorist coalition based on NATO forces. If squeezed out of Afghanistan, radical Islamist structures will spread across the region. This will upturn the Central Asian states’ domestic stability.
Downloads
References
“NATO Integrated Data Service,” NATO News, 26 February-11 March, 2009.
In the last 7 years the numerical strength of the ISAF troops has increased over 10-fold.
During the operation, over 80 million leaflets were dropped on the territory of Afghanistan with a population of about 27 million.
In the mountains, units moving on foot can cover 200-500 m/hr, which is 10 to 15 times less than in the valleys.
Report by Deputy Director of the RF Federal Drug Control Service Yu. Maltsev delivered at the international con-ference “SCO Activities Designed to Oppose the New Challenges and Threats to Regional Security” held on 15 April, 2009 in Moscow.
About 13 thousand tons of precursors are needed to process this amount of local opium; according to information supplied by Kabul, in the last two years only 200 tons of precursors were confiscated.
A mere 2 percent of the total amount of drugs moved across the border is confiscated at the border.
In 2008, American special services officially admitted that part of the narco-money is spent on terrorist structures in Afghanistan.
Letter of CSTO Secretary General N. Bordiuzha to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of 8 July, 2004 in which he outlined the main trends of a dialog and relations between the two organizations.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2009 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
