Morozov Yu.V.Institute for US and Canadian Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation morozovyury51@yandex.ru ORCID id: not available
Importance Currently, Afghanistan faces an upsurge of various terrorist groups, which join other ones after being defeated in Syria. Such threats should be counteracted. However, countries lack a common approach to resolving the Afghan crisis and finding possible solutions. Objectives I analyze documents, views of diplomats and Afghan political experts concerning strategies of the main actors in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The article outlines some promising aspects for States and international organizations to interact upon in Afghanistan in order to stabilize the situation. Methods I conduct a horizontal and comparative analysis of official documents and opinions expressed by the Russian and foreign experts on the Afghan issue. The research also involves the content analysis of strategies seen in the NATO, CSTO and SCO States, compares the outcome with potential opportunities and challenges to Russia in Central Asia. Results I demonstrate that negative trends in the Afghan scenario affect national interests of the above States and regional security in Central Asia. Threats arising from Afghanistan can be curbed by concerted efforts of the actors, but this requires a robust dialogue among them. If the USA, Russia, NATO, CSTO and SCO do not come to common terms, this will escalate tensions in Afghanistan. Conclusions and Relevance I generalize views on strategies of the USA, NATO, CSTO, SCO, China and Russia for Afghanistan. I underline the need to protect interests of the SCO and CSTO States in Central Asia through concerted actions of its members, avoiding the U.S. and NATO military missions in Afghanistan. I determine some potential aspects for the States and their alliances to address and open new opportunities for stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan.
Keywords: policy, strategy, SCO, CSTO, NATO
References:
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