The New US Strategy and the Context of its Implementation

The New US Strategy and the Context of its Implementation

The new US strategy for Afghanistan is considered to be a comprehensive one and is expected to improve situation in Afghanistan significantly. It is widely supported by both the Afghans and the international community engaged in Afghanistan. Key areas of focus in the new strategy are increasing international civilian and military efforts in Afghanistan, increasing and improving Afghan security forces, good governance, developing the economy of the country, and positively engaging Pakistan in fighting terrorism through empowering the civil government in that country. Focusing on Pakistan and destroying the so called safe havens of terrorists is a key aspect of the new policy. With the new strategy the US has come to finally have a comprehensive policy document with highlighted objectives and a clear take on issues concerning security in the region. In the past 7 years the US and international goals in Afghanistan have been regarded as ambiguous and inconsistent. The new US strategy is, therefore, a positive development from an Afghan perspective.

The international community and the UN have largely supported the new Obama strategy in Afghanistan. At the NATO summit held in Strasbourg the NATO members assured the US of their commitment to back up the Afghan mission with more civilian and military efforts. Five thousand new soldiers are expected to join NATO troops in Afghanistan to provide security for the up coming Afghan election as part of NATO’s commitment . NATO countries’ commitment is to respond positively to the new US Afghan strategy which has emphasized on a more coordinated and integrated approach to build up security through improving governance, economic condition and regional cooperation on Afghanistan.

The new strategy emphasizes on the increasing role of the Afghan security forces in fighting against terrorists, besides increasing international security forces. Therefore, increasing and training of the Afghan security forces is considered to be one of the first priority issues for the US engagement in Afghanistan. From a local perspective the Afghan ownership of the war against terrorism in Afghanistan is crucial for determining the success of the mission, because both local Afghans and the regional players have been suspicious about the long term presence and strategic goals of some of the international actors engaged in the Afghanistan mission.

The new US strategy has also emphasized on increasing the integration of policies and closer coordination between the Afghan and international forces with the Pakistani government. Integration of approaches and a common international strategy in fighting against terrorism in Afghanistan has been a long standing demand by the Afghans. However, the operational aspect of such a policy requires an understanding on creating a common counter terrorism strategy in the region. If the international actors succeed to come to an agreement on a common counter terrorism policy in Afghanistan, things will very likely improve faster than before.

One of the most problematic things in terms of fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan has been the lack of understanding among international actors on how to counter terrorism in a regional context. There have been inconsistencies among the international allies in terms of engaging with the regional players. Regional players like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been accused of being involved in supporting some networks of insurgents as part of their strategic engagement in the region, and some of the international allies have often had specific reservations regarding these countries. The success of the new US strategy depends on the international success in building a common understanding on how to address underlying regional strategic factors that influence security dynamics in Afghanistan.

The issue of Pakistan and cross-border security remains at the heart of problems in a regional perspective. Unifying and/or improving the incoherent and disintegrated Pakistani policy towards Afghanistan require extensive international efforts. Some of the insurgent networks have links with various institutions in the military and intelligence sectors of Pakistan on which the civil government has very limited control. For different institutions in Pakistan, insurgent networks serve various interests and therefore, efforts to destroy terrorist networks depend to large extent on dealing with issues on the other side of the Afghan borders. Regional connections of terrorist networks have been the core of the problems in terms of fighting terrorism in a regional context.

The new US strategy is expected to help overcome security problems in Afghanistan. However, the success of the strategy is highly dependent on the processes and mechanisms of its implementation. Addressing the local and regional dynamics influencing the context of implementation of the political and development as well as security programs of the international actors is critical to determining the success of the new approach. Greater international political efforts are needed to establish a working regional approach to counter terrorism and insurgency in the region. In other words, for the new US strategy to succeed it is crucial to operationalize policies and plans in a contextual framework in order to appropriately address the local and regional dynamics that have been affecting security outcomes in Afghanistan.