Few people care today to make reference to the competition for power and prestige among Europe's great powers. Europe is a job well done - whole and free, as the saying goes. NATO, yesterday's custodian of regional order, has shifted its focus accordingly, concentrating on globalized security threats, crisis management, and cooperative security.
Topic:
NATO, Globalization, Regional Cooperation, and International Security
In July 2011, the first U.S. troops started to leave Afghanistan - a powerful symbol of Western determination to let the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) gradually take over responsibility for national security. This is also an important element in the strategy of Hamid Karzai's government, which seeks to appear not as a pawn of Washington but as an autonomous actor in negotiations with the so-called moderate Taliban. With withdrawal to be completed by 2014, the regionalization of the "Afghan issue" will grow. The regional powers will gain autonomy in their relationship with Kabul, and will implement strategies of both competition and collaboration. In the context of this regionalization, Russia occupies an important position.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, and Military Strategy