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| Image: Flickr User - ResoluteSupportMedia |
By Tamim Asey
It is time to end “Great Game” politics in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and the region are witnessing a fundamental shift in the variables and dynamics of war and peace. The stakes are higher this time and any miscalculations will have far more dire consequences for the region than ever before.
There are new players, new variables, and higher stakes in the war and peace calculus of Afghanistan. The rise of Daesh (or ISIS), the power struggle within the Taliban, increased criminalization, and the regionalization of war have changed the rules of war within the country and beyond.
Until recently – the war in Afghanistan had three main components: a sponsor, a safe haven, and a proxy group with a specific political agenda of overthrowing the Afghan government and establishing an Islamic regime based on Sharia. This is no longer the case. Today, the Taliban movement is divided and entangled in a leadership power struggle, Daesh is increasing its footprint in Taliban strongholds and recruiting from among Taliban dissidents, and criminal networks are shifting their loyalty to Daesh as a reliable partner to ensure the smooth operation of their criminal enterprises along the borders of Pakistan and Iran.
Left unchecked, these new fast-paced geopolitical and security realities have the potential to alter the rules of the game and the geopolitical security architecture of the region. But they also present opportunities and challenges for the region to work closely together to tackle a brutal and clever criminal enterprise and terrorist network.
What Afghanistan, Pakistan and the entire region requires is hard headed realpolitik to clearly define their common friends and foes. This must be followed by the construction of a common framework of action on their interests and differences. The first step must be a commitment to stop the use of terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy. A regional anti-terror alliance could then follow. The policy of containment, dual games, and “Great Game” politics is over – this time the entire region is exposed to the danger.
Read the full story at The Diplomat