KARACHI:
As the US wraps up its mission in Afghanistan, many are asking if the billions of dollars spent over some 20-odd years benefited the US in any way. The US has indeed failed in its “nation-building” project in Afghanistan and the Taliban insurgents have made extraordinary advances in capturing vacated territories. But that fact that the US failed to achieve its geopolitical objectives in the larger South and Central Asian context cannot be further from the truth.
The US, by far and large, has achieved its “strategic” objectives outside Afghanistan. Their exit from the region can be explained through their heightened tension with China. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, the US is relocating its resources away from this region towards East Asia, where China expands its muscles. Moreover, the US exit will be an economic nightmare for BRI, particularly CPEC, as there will be major security challenges if a civil war erupts in Afghanistan.
A Taliban-administered Afghanistan will pose a geopolitical threat to Russian influence and Iranian interests in the region. This Afghan quagmire will also seriously undermine Pakistan’s security. In short, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is strategic and clever, and it is high time that Pakistan also checked the nuts and bolts of its forward-looking security policy if it wishes to safeguard its interests.
Muhammad Arslan Mehmood
Toba Tek Singh
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2021.
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