Introduction
Since the United States launched a war on terrorism in Afghanistan, a lot of issues have emerged about the future of Afghanistan. One of the concerns that are raised long after the active war on terrorism in Afghanistan was stopped concerns the United States’ policy about the country and how it can use the country for fostering relations in the region. Researchers and commentators often differ in opinion when it comes to the issue. Some show positivity about using Afghanistan to advance the US interests in the region, while other researchers and political commentators are pessimistic about the issue. This paper presents a critique of the possibility of advancing the US interests in the Middle East by depending on Afghanistan.
The loss of social and economic stability of Afghanistan
It is argued that Afghanistan will take a relatively long time to regain a position in the region because the country has lost its identity out of the years of war and the impacts it has had on the internal organization. There are a lot of socio-economic and political divisions in the county, which are spearheaded by the divides of ethnicity, secularism, and religion. The question that ought to be asked is whether the United States can use a country that is yet to rediscover itself for pursuing its interests in the Middle East region. Having emerged from the war that was initiated and pursued by the United States in the region, the country has lost its order, and it has not managed to bridge the deep ethnic divisions in the region. According to Fields (2010), there have been a lot of efforts by the United States to enhance the reconstruction of the country after a lengthy period of war against terrorism in the region. The reconstruction entails the efforts of embracing nationhood by pacifying the prevailing ethnicities in the region. Several political commentators argue that the efforts of reconstruction of Afghanistan by the United States are not bearing fruits. It should be noted that reconstruction is a continuous process, considering the scale of destruction and disorientation that had been brought about by the war. A considerable amount of organization has already been attained in Afghanistan due to the reconstruction efforts. This is a positive pointer to the future of the country, which is bound to regain socio-economic unity out of the long-held reconstruction efforts (Fields, 2010).
International involvement in Afghanistan
According to Evans (2012), there is quite extensive involvement of international actors in the country. This has a lot of implications on the presence and the policies of the United States in Afghanistan. One of the countries that have intensive involvement in Afghanistan is Pakistan. The United States is forced to develop and foster positive relations with countries like Pakistan, which also has an interest in Afghanistan. The question that needs to be asked is whether Pakistan can be a real barrier to the pursuance of the United States’ interests in Afghanistan, and by extension, the Middle East region. Just like Afghanistan, Pakistan has been a subject of terror in the region. Taliban and Al-Qaeda remain to be a threat to both Pakistan and Afghanistan. This gives the United States an upper edge in as far as the control of Afghanistan is concerned. The United States remains to be the main force in as far as the stability of Afghanistan is concerned. It will be quite hard to attain economic stability in the country without the financial support of the United States to stabilize Afghanistan. Pakistan cannot, therefore, pursue their economic interests in Afghanistan when it is still underdeveloped. It is forced to let the United States enhance the economic stability of Afghanistan. The relationship between Pakistan and the United States might be enhanced by the presence and influence of the US in Afghanistan (Mian & Weiner, 2012).
Local opposition to the presence of the US in Afghanistan
The stabilization of Afghanistan is solidly dependent on the people of Afghanistan. However, there have been a lot of reports about the resentment of the presence of US forces in the country by the local Afghans. This implies that the Afghans are not receptive to the Americans, who are supposed to spearhead reconstruction and enhance social, political, and economic sustainability in the country. Opposition to the presence of the United States forces in Afghanistan is something that cannot be ruled out based on the cases of excessive use of force to combat different interest groups in the country, like the religious groups. It is argued that the mere presence of the United States in the country enhances instability (Iqbal, 2012). While such opposition is justifiable, it cannot rise to the scale of massive opposition to the United States. There are a substantial number of people who still feel the need for the United States to extend its stay in Afghanistan (Coll, 2009).
According to Armitage, Berger, Markey, and Council on Foreign Relations (2010), there are still millions of Afghans who feel insecure by the presence of terrorist groups in the country. The terrorist groups seek to advance a civil war to destabilize the Afghan government. It is hard to imagine the withdrawal of the United States peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan today. This can increase the rate of insecurity in the country as it will result in the resurgence of religious extremist groups, which will arise to battle for the control of the country. The presence of the United States in the country is still highly valid in as far as there is minor opposition in the country. Most of the opposition to the United States in Afghanistan is spearheaded by extremist groups that have interests in battling the Afghan government for control (Armitage, Berger, Markey & Council on Foreign Relations, 2010).
Local pressures and the sustenance of US-Afghan relations
One of the recent concerns about the presence of the relations of the sustainability of the relations between the United States and Afghanistan is the growing pressure within the United States. There have been a lot of negative sentiments and pressure from the civil society of the United States to compel the government to withdraw from financing the war on terror in other countries, according to Commentary (2011). The internal pressure in Afghanistan is also mounting as the United States continues to battle with the internal pressures. Will the United States manage to sustain its relations with Afghanistan? The United States’ interests in the Middle East region are quite broad. This is why the United States government has been persistent in terms of enhancing the support of the Afghanistan government to stabilize. Up to today, it can be said that there are a lot of positive prospects in the sustenance of relations between the United States and Afghanistan (Rid & Keaney, 2010).
References
Armitage, R. L., Berger, S. R., Markey, D. S., & Council on Foreign Relations. (2010). U.S. strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan: Independent task force report. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations.
Coll, S. (2009). U.S. interests and policy choices in Afghanistan. Web.
Commentary (2011). The benefits of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Web.
Evans, A. (2012). Tough talk is cheap: Washington’s real options in Islamabad. Foreign Affairs, 91(3), 166-170.
Fields. (2010). Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR): Quarterly Report to the United States Congress. United States. Web.
Iqbal, K. (2012). Afghanistan: Hope, fantasy and failure! Defence Journal, 16(4), 73-75.
Mian, Z., & Weiner, S. K. (2012). America’s Pakistan. Web.
Rid, T., & Keaney, T. (2010). Understanding counterinsurgency: Doctrine, operations, and challenges. New York, NY: Routlegde.