Download or read book Afghanistan and Its Neighbors after the NATO Withdrawal written by Amin Saikal and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2016-03-04 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The planned reductions in NATO troop numbers in Afghanistan through 2015 and a final withdrawal at the end of 2016 brings up numerous pressing questions about the security and national interests of not just Afghanistan, but of the broader region itself. The problem of a chaotic Afghanistan—or of an outright Taliban victory—is of great concern to not only immediate neighbors such as Iran, Pakistan, and the former Soviet Central Asian republics to the north, but also to those countries in the region with Afghanistan-related security or economic concerns, such as China and India. Further abroad, Russian, American and European interests and plans for dealing with the fallout from Afghanistan must also be taken into account as these major powers have enduring interests in Afghanistan and the region. This volume puts the prospects for short- and mid-term security dynamics at the core of the analysis, with each case being placed in its proper contemporary historical, economic, and political context. The book will offer a truly comprehensive, nuanced, and timely account of the security situation in and around Afghanistan.
Download or read book From Uncertainty to Strategy written by Timor Sharan and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The withdrawal of U.S.- and NATO-Forces constitute a watershed moment for Afghanistan’s international relations. It is accompanied by tremendous uncertainty about the nature of overall disengagement, its repercussions on the ground as well as regional security. In this situation, credible regional buy-in for a political settlement is critical but should not be taken for granted or understood as a linear or uniform process. The policy briefs identify perceptions, attitudes, and uncertainties among Afghanistan’s neighbors and key regional and international players about the anticipated outcome of the intra- Afghan talks and current as well as future conflict dynamics. What are the scenarios regional players bracing themselves for, and how is this influencing their policies?
Download or read book Afghanistan and Its Neighbors written by Marvin G. Weinbaum and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fate of Afghanistan and the success of U.S. and coalition efforts to stabilize Afghanistan will in large measure be affected by the current and future policies pursued by its varied proximate and distal neighbors. Weinbaum evaluates the courses of action Afghanistan's key neighbors are likely to take.
Download or read book U S Strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan written by Richard Lee Armitage and published by Council on Foreign Relations. This book was released on 2010 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Council on Foreign Relations sponsors Independent Task Forces to assess issues of current and critical importance to U.S. foreign policy and provide policymakers with concrete judgments and recommendations. Diverse in backgrounds and perspectives, Task Force members aim to reach a meaningful consensus on policy through private and non-partisan deliberations. Once launched, Task Forces are independent of CFR and solely responsible for the content of their reports. Task Force members are asked to join a consensus signifying that they endorse "the general policy thrust and judgments reached by the group, though not necessarily every finding and recommendation." Each Task Force member also has the option of putting forward an additional or a dissenting view. Members' affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not imply institutional endorsement. Task Force observers participate in discussions, but are not asked to join the consensus. --Book Jacket.
Download or read book NATO and Afghanistan written by Shahid Javed Burki and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The leaderships of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) countries were pushed by domestic considerations to lay out a programme for withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan at a more accelerated pace than they had originally envisaged. There were both political and financial reasons for America0́9s rush to the door. The war was no longer regarded by the citizens as 0́necessary0́+. This change in sentiment could not be ignored by the country0́9s leadership especially when President Barack Obama faced stiff opposition in the run-up to the November 2012 presidential contest. America0́9s European allies were even less enthusiastic about the war. They were too engrossed in solving their growing economic problems to focus much attention on a difficult and distant land. And the cost of continued engagement was way beyond what America and Europe could afford. President Obama told the press after the conclusion of the NATO summit in Chicago, held on 20-21 May 2012, 0́We can pull our troops back in a responsible way and we can start rebuilding America and start making some of the massive investments ... in America here at home.0́+2 But such a neat outcome does not seem to be on the cards even after the NATO summit in Chicago. This paper suggests that the 0́−great pullout0́+ is likely to be a messy affair and not as desired by the United States and its allies. Unlike the Soviet Union, the United States will remain engaged in one way or other in Afghanistan for years to come. Its pullout will not be as complete as was that of the Soviets.
Download or read book Encyclopaedia Britannica written by Hugh Chisholm and published by . This book was released on 1910 with total page 1090 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.
Download or read book Afghanistan written by Barnett R. Rubin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Afghanistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia, has improbably been at the center of international geopolitics for four decades. After the Soviet Union invaded in 1980, Afghanistan descended into an unending conflict that featured at various points most of the world's major powers. In the mid-1990s, the country entered a new phase, when the Taliban took power and imposed order based on a harsh, repressive version of Islamic law. Infamously, the sheltered Osama bin Laden, whose attack on 9/11 Towers ushered in the Global War on Terror, drew tens of thousands of American troops to the country, where they remain today. In Afghanistan: What Everyone Needs to Know®, leading scholar Barnett R. Rubin provides an overview of this complicated nation. After providing a concise history of Afghanistan, he explores the various peoples and cultures of the country and its relations with neighbors like Pakistan and Iran. He also provides an authoritative overview of the conflicts that have plagued the country since the Soviet invasion. Both wide-ranging and pithy, this book explains why Afghanistan matters and what its possible future might look like.
Download or read book Afghanistan written by Kenneth Katzman and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: U.S. and outside assessments of the effort to stabilise Afghanistan are mixed and subject to debate; the Administration notes progress on reconstruction, governance and security in many areas of Afghanistan, particularly the U.S.-led eastern sector of Afghanistan. However, a November 2007 Bush Administration review of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan reportedly concluded that overall progress was inadequate. This mirrors recent outside studies that contain relatively pessimistic assessments, emphasising a growing sense of insecurity in areas previously considered secure, increased numbers of suicide attacks, and increasing aggregate poppy cultivation, as well as increasing divisions within the NATO alliance about the relative share of combat among the nations contributing to the peacekeeping mission. Both the official U.S. as well as outside assessments are increasingly pointing to Pakistan as failing -- either through lack of attention or eliberatestrategy -- to prevent Taliban commanders from operating from Pakistan. To try to gain momentum against the insurgency, the United States is considering new initiatives including adding U.S. troops to the still combat-intense south, possibly assuming U.S. command of the southern sector, and increasing direct U.S. action against Taliban concentrations inside Pakistan. Politically, the Afghan government remains reasonably stable. The post-Taliban transition was completed with the convening of a parliament in December 2005; a new constitution was adopted in January 2004, successful presidential elections were held on October 9, 2004, and parliamentary elections took place on September 18, 2005. The parliament has become an arena for factions that have fought each other for nearly three decades to debate and peacefully resolve differences, as well as a centre of political pressure on President Hamid Karzai. Major regional strongmen have been marginalised. Afghan citizens are enjoying personal freedoms forbidden by the Taliban, and women are participating in economic and political life. Presidential elections are to be held in the fall of 2009, with parliamentary and provincial elections to follow one year later. To help stabilise Afghanistan, the United States and partner countries are deploying a 47,000 troop NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that now commands peacekeeping throughout Afghanistan, including the restive south. Of those, 19,000 of the 31,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan are part of ISAF. The U.S. and partner forces also run regional enclaves to secure reconstruction (Provincial Reconstruction Teams, PRTs), and are building an Afghan National Army and National Police. The United States has given Afghanistan over $23 billion (appropriated, including FY2008 to date) since the fall of the Taliban, including funds to equip and train Afghan security forces.
Download or read book China and Afghanistan written by Huasheng Zhao and published by CSIS Reports. This book was released on 2012-03-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because China is principally interested in preventing the destabilization of Xinjiang Province, it has broadly deferred to the United States and its Western allies who are leading military efforts, political reconciliation, and economic reconstruction in Afghanistan. Author Zhao Huasheng writes that China's interests in Afghanistan are more limited than those of the United States, and Beijing has no interest in playing a subordinate role "under the dominance of the West" either. Basically China wants the security threat contained, but is not prepared to contribute to the military effort, including opening a transit corridor on its territory. China is prepared to participate in Afghanistan's economic reconstruction, especially when it advances Chinese foreign economic interests.
Download or read book The Spectre of Afghanistan written by Amin Saikal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-01-28 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aiming to connect a number of divergent perspectives on the current state of Afghanistan, this book outlines the country's past and present instability and how this impacts and is conceptualised by its neighbours as well as by international heavyweights such as Russia, China and the United States. Given Afghanistan's extensive cross-border ethnic, linguistic, sectarian and cultural ties with its neighbours – whatever transpires in the war-torn country is bound to have regional and global security implications. This study focuses on the current formal and informal defensive policies the states of Central Asia may or may not have in place in the event of the Afghan situation deteriorating further or the Taliban-led insurgency substantially widening their influence. The book also considers the positions and policy responses of three influential actors in the region: Russia, China and the United States. It assesses the convergence of interests between these great powers in stabilising Afghanistan, and their divergence of geopolitical objectives in the region. With President Donald Trump unpredictably upheaving American policy in Afghanistan, an assertive Russia continuing to expand its influence across Central Asia and China seeking to have a wider economic and security role in the region, this book offers a timely assessment of an internationally-important topic.
Download or read book The Central Asia Afghanistan Relationship written by Marlene Laruelle and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2017-08-14 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Central Asia is a relatively understudied neighbor of Afghanistan. The region is often placed into a number of historical and political contexts—a section of the Silk Road, a pawn in the “Great Game,” the “spillover” state that exemplifies the failure of US foreign policy—that limit scholarly understanding. This edited volume contributes by providing a broad, long-term analysis of the Central Asia–Afghanistan relationship over the last several decades. It addresses the legacy of Soviet intervention with a unique first-hand selection of interviews of former Soviet Central Asian soldiers that fought in the Soviet–Afghan War. It examines Afghanistan’s norther neighbors, discussing Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—their strategy for Afghanistan, their perception of challenges and opportunities of the country, and patterns of cooperation and conflict. The collection also looks at recent US strategic initiatives in the region, in particular the New Silk Road Initiative that envisions a growing Central Asia–South Asia connection.
Download or read book A Review of the 2001 Bonn Conference and Application to the Road Ahead in Afghanistan written by Mark Fields and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2011 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten years ago in Bonn, Germany, the United Nations Envoy to Afghanistan, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, and U.S. Envoy to the Afghan Opposition, Ambassador James Dobbins, led a diverse group of international diplomats and warriors to consensus and charted the political course for Afghanistan well into the decade. The process that led to the Bonn Agreement (Bonn 2001, or Bonn I) reflects the best of U.S. and United Nations statesmanship and was the result of the effective application of military and diplomatic power. Bonn 2001 was successful for five reasons: The U.S.-supported Northern Alliance held the clear military advantage; The U.S. interagency position was effectively synchronized; Dobbins paved the way for success at Bonn by thorough bilateral preparation and consultations with international actors-he met personally with nearly all the international participants and representatives; Brahimi and Dobbins merged their negotiating experience and artfully used multilateral negotiations to meld national interests into cohesive commitments; Bonn Conference objectives were limited and achievable and the U.S. negotiating team was empowered to exercise initiative in pursuit of those objectives. As the Bonn Conference's 10th anniversary approaches, the fundamental challenge is simply stated: how can U.S. national interests in Afghanistan be achieved with fewer resources? This paper answers that question through an analysis of the process that produced the Bonn Agreement in 2001. It offers step-by-step recommendations for U.S. policymakers on how to shape specific conditions in Afghanistan, beginning with Bonn 2011 (Bonn II), for the post-2014 period. Those recommendations include: The United States must demonstrate long-term commitment to Afghanistan in the form of a formal strategic partnership announced at Bonn; Following Bonn, the United States must set conditions for a negotiated settlement through military and diplomatic means: The United States should announce its intention to maintain a reduced military force in Afghanistan well beyond 2014; The United States should fund the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) at the present manning objective (352,000) through 2015, then reassess this requirement; The coalition should intensify efforts to kill or capture members of the insurgent Leadership; Bilateral preparation should begin with President Hamid Karzai and the issue of Afghan political reforms. Bonn I was about balancing control of central government offices. Following Bonn II, Afghans should rebalance power between the central government and provincial governments. Insurgents willing to lay down arms could play a legitimate role in local governance; Bilateral preparation should then proceed to Afghanistan's neighbors and Russia, China, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. This paper offers recommendations for dealing with each country in light of Bonn I and events to date. Without U.S. commitment through the end of this decade, Afghanistan will likely fall back into the civil war it experienced in the early 1990s. As fighting spreads, India and Pakistan will back their Afghan proxies and the conflict will intensify. This situation would not only create opportunities for safe haven for extremists, but also invite a confrontation between adversarial and nuclear-armed states. The growing strength of Pakistan's own insurgency and the existential threat it could pose in the future intensifies this risk. The potential for such an outcome runs counter to U.S. and coalition interests. Bonn 2001 began a journey toward Afghanistan's stability and representative government that has demanded great sacrifice by Afghans, Americans, and other members of the coalition. That journey has come far from its humble beginning and requires American leadership and energy to remain on course.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Uzbekistan written by Reuel R. Hanks and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2024-02-19 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Uzbekistan was established as an independent state in 1991, the rich history of the people and culture extend back thousands of years. Historical Dictionary of Uzbekistan covers several thousand years of Central Asian history, with emphasis on the period from the establishment of a territorialized entity under the Soviet regime called the Uzbek SSR, up through the period of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan. Historical Dictionary of Uzbekistan contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 400 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Uzbekistan.
Download or read book Whose Army Afghanistan s Future and the Blueprint for Civil War written by Musa Khan Jalalzai and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2014-03-01 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Western troops withdraw from Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army (ANA) has been tasked with securing the country. Having broken the system that was in place, the US and NATO are now leaving Afghanistan to face Taliban elements, criminal warlords, and private militias which disrupt any efforts to pull the nation together. Yet the ANA arose under foreign tutelage and will remain dependent upon foreign support for the foreseeable future. Thus it can only be seen by the majority of Afghans as a legacy of the occupation and not a 'national' institution. The ANA is shrinking by the day. Musa Khan Jalalzai focuses primarily on the ANA's ability to carry out the task it has been assigned: 'ensuring security in Afghanistan.' Along the way, the author covers a wide spectrum of topics: the current state of the Afghan National army (ANA), Taliban infiltration, intelligence failures, the "intelligence war" among various nations and alliances (NATO, US, UK, ISAF), green on blue attacks, and the rise of war criminals heading private militias which present the biggest challenge to the reorganization of State institutions.
Download or read book Soft Power in Central Asia written by Kirill Nourzhanov and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Central Asia often evokes images of imperial power rivalry dating back to the 19th century. Yet as the region’s international politics becomes more complex in the age of globalization, the need for new ways of looking at its many actors is more pressing than ever. Today even the traditional great powers rely increasingly on subtle forms of influence to augment their military might and economic clout in order to achieve their objectives in Central Asia. Bearing this in mind, Soft Power in Central Asia examines the patterns of attraction and persuasion that help shape the political choices of countries in the region. Starting with an investigation of soft power projection by the US, Russia and China, it sheds light on normative transfer and public diplomacy of the European Union, Turkey and Israel, and concludes with a discussion of the Central Asian republics’ active stance in the competition for the hearts and minds. Containing original chapters contributed by leading experts in the field, the volume will appeal to scholars and professionals with interest in international relations, political science and Central Asian studies.
Download or read book Language Literacy and Social Change in Mongolia written by Phillip P. Marzluf and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Language, Literacy, and Social Change in Mongolia is the first full-length treatment of literacy in Mongolian. Challenging readers’ assumptions about Central Asia and Mongolia, this book focuses on Mongolians’ experiences with reading and writing throughout the past 100 years. Literacy, as a powerful historical and social variable, shows readers how reading and writing have shaped the lives of Mongolians and, at the same time, how reading and writing have been transformed by historical, political, economic, and other social forces. Mongolian literacy serves as an especially rich area of inquiry because of the dramatic political, economic, and social changes that occurred in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. For the seventy years during which Mongolia was a part of the communist Soviet world, literacy played an important role in how Mongolians identified themselves, conceived of the past, and created a new social order. Literacy was also a part of the story of authoritarianism and state violence. It was used to express the authority of the communist Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, control the pastoral population, and suppress non-socialist beliefs and practices. Mongolians’ reading and writing opportunities and resources were tightly controlled, and the language policy of replacing the traditional Mongolian script with the Cyrillic alphabet immediately followed the violent repression of Buddhist leaders, government officials, and intellectuals. Beginning with the 1990 Democratic Revolution, Mongolians have been thrust into free-market capitalism, privatization, globalization, and neoliberalism. In post-socialist Mongolia, literacy no longer serves as the center for Mongolian identity. Government subsidies to pastoral literacy resources have been slashed, and administrators now find themselves competing with other “developing countries” for educational funding. Due to the pressures caused by globalization, Mongolians have begun to talk about literacy and language in terms of crisis and anxiety. As global flows of English compete with new symbols from the distant past, Mongolians worry about the perceived lowering standards of Mongolian linguistic usage amid rapid economic changes. These worries also reveal themselves in official language policies and manifest themselves in the multiple languages and scripts that appear in the capital of Ulaanbaatar and other urban areas.
Download or read book Eurasia s Shifting Geopolitical Tectonic Plates written by Alexandros Petersen and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2017-07-18 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology of articles, short studies, and interviews by Alexandros Petersen was written over the span of ten years, starting in 2004. Yet they are even more relevant today in their prescient analysis. Petersen insightfully addressed the implications of the West withdrawing its engagement from the Caucasus and Central Asia, the expansion of the Chinese influence, and Russia’s strategic interests. The collection is organized along four main topics: (1) Eurasia and a changing transatlantic world: the world politics of shifting frontiers in the post-Soviet world; (2) Energy geopolitics in the Caspian and beyond, with its crucial implications for European energy security; (3) the Black Sea world, covering the dynamics of Russia, Turkey, and the South Caucasus, including the role of NATO and frozen conflicts in the region; (4) the new silk roads: China’s inroads in Central Asia, which is often overlooked in the West but will be critical for the geopolitical balance of powers.
