Search

Begin New Search Topic NATO Political Geography Afghanistan

71. Fear and Loathing in Afghanistan?

Author:
Terry Terriff
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
The passing tempest towards the end of June that led to the relief of US General Stanley McChrystal as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan was both fascinating and disturbing. Much of the initial focus of the public debate focused on whether Gen. McChrystal should or should not be relieved because of the apparent distain of his command staff for their civilian leadership. The apparent split in opinion among media commentators on this question apparently existed even within the administration of President Barak Obama, as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates publicly admitted he advised the president that Gen. McChrystal should be kept in post lest removing him slow down or even halt the momentum of the new counterinsurgency strategy. The revelations in the Rolling Stone article, ‚The Runaway General‛, put President Obama in a ‚damned if he did and damned if he didn't‛ position; on the one hand the president ran the risk of appearing weak if he did not dismiss Gen. McChrystal, while on the other hand he ran the risk that the removal of the general could have an adverse impact on success in Afghanistan for which he would ultimately be blamed. The President, however, demonstrated considerable political deftness in accepting Gen. McChrystal's resignation and nominating Gen. David Petraeus, currently heading up Central Command, to replace him.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

72. Comparing the U.S. and Soviet Experiences in Afghanistan

Author:
Bruce Riedel
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
CTC Sentinel
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
A country rarely fights the same war twice in one generation, especially from opposite sides. Yet that in many ways describes the U.S. role in Afghanistan today. In the 1980s, the Central Intelligence Agency, working from a safe haven in Pakistan, engineered the largest covert operation in its history to help defeat the Soviet 40th Red Army in Afghanistan. Today, the United States is fighting a Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan that operates from a safe haven in Pakistan. Many suggest that the outcome will be the same for the United States as it was for the Soviet Union—ultimate defeat at the hands of the insurgency. Pakistan's role as a safe haven is remarkably consistent in both conflicts, but focusing exclusively on that similarity misses the fundamental differences between the two wars. This article will address those differences, and will also assess how Pakistan's role is impacting the United States' possibilities for success today.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Taliban, and Soviet Union

73. Enemies, Irregular Adversaries, Spoilers, Non-compliant Actors. How the Definition of Actors Influences Afghanistan Strategies

Author:
Grant Dansie
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Current descriptions and explanations of the situation in Afghanistan include the use of a wide range of terms; however the true meaning of these terms is often unclear. In planning and outlining effective strategy clear and useful definitions will be required to ensure worthwhile and successful results. This study examines how definitions may significantly affect strategy by focusing on the example of non-violent or low level violent actors in Afghanistan that are perceived as negatively affecting international peace and stability operations. It highlights that the situation is inherently more complex that at first glance. Our definitions may carry entrenched meanings that negatively affect our perceptions of certain actors. At the same time the situation on the ground is extremely complex with numerous factors influencing this perceived negative behaviour. The study outlines a number of dilemmas involved in developing these definitions, as well as highlighting how these play out on the ground. The study draws on a number of interviews with NGO workers, researchers, Western government officials and NATO/ISAF troops.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, NATO, War, and Non State Actors
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

74. NATO at 60 – Not Yet Retirement Age

Author:
Bruno Tertrais
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
France's newfound enthusiam for rejoining NATO's military command, announced by President Sarkozy at this author's Paris think tank, underlines an upbeat perspective. A chorus of voices are warning that NATO may fracture over Afghanistan, but history shows the alliance's unexpected resiliance since the end of the cold war - and its continuing capacity to adapt.
Topic:
NATO and Cold War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and France

75. Toward Reconciliation in Afghanistan

Author:
Michael O'Hanlon
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
How can we make sense of where the United States is in Afghanistan today? A poor country, wracked by 30 years of civil war, finds itself at the mercy of insurgents, terrorists, and narco-traffickers. NATO's economy-of-force operation there has attempted to help build a nation with very few resources. Yet, overall levels of violence remain relatively modest by comparison with other violent lands such as the Congo, Iraq, and even Mexico. Economic growth is significant and certain quality of life indicators are improving, though from a very low base. The United States is committed to Afghanistan and over the course of 2009 will roughly double its troop strength there. The international community is also seriously committed, with a number of key countries such as Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom fighting hard and applying solid principles of counterinsurgency.
Topic:
NATO and Economics
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, United Kingdom, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, and Netherlands

76. Can Berlin and Washington Agree on Russia?

Author:
Stephen F. Szabo
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Both Russia and Germany are back on the U.S. agenda. Russia will be a key element of a wide array of policies to the Obama administration, including dealing with Iran and the construction of a broader nonproliferation regime, energy security, nuclear arms reductions, and Afghanistan. Russia policy will also be central to U.S. designs for NATO, including how to deal with Georgia and Ukraine, and the viability of a pan-European security structure.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, Europe, Washington, Ukraine, Georgia, and Berlin

77. NATO's Survival Depends on Afghanistan

Author:
David M. Abshire
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
General Stanley McChrystal has said that without additional forces America will experience “Mission Failure” in Afghanistan. There is a growing fear within both the American political right and left that General McChrystal's request for additional troop increases in Afghanistan will start us on the road to another Vietnam. Shockingly, no one, not even the President, has yet to call for some form of comparable commitments from our allies. Ironically, it was the European members of the Alliance which took the initiative to invoke Article 5 after the 9/11 attacks, signaling that the attack was an attack against them all. Thus, Europeans were willing to make Afghanistan NATO's war. During the initial phase of the “War on Terror,” the United States mistakenly believed it did not need allies and made little effort to involve NATO in its operations until overextension in Iraq forced the United States to seek allies when it set up the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Terrorist attacks on European cities have also made it clear that Europe has just as much at stake in Afghanistan.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and Vietnam

78. Unity of Effort: Key to Success in Afghanistan

Author:
Christopher J. Lamb and Martin Cinnamond
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The Barack Obama administration is debating alternatives to the population-centric counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan that it unveiled in March 2009. The reevaluation is prompted by the recent submission of supporting civil and military campaign plans that indicate substantial additional resources are required for success. The resource issue is important, but as General Stanley McChrystal, USA, the new commander of U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan, argues, the need to pursue an “indirect” strategy that is sustainable for the Afghans and implemented with unified purpose is more important. Lack of progress in Afghanistan to date is due more to international donors and forces working at cross purposes, and unilaterally instead of with Afghans, than to insufficient resources.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and North Atlantic

79. Tajikistan: 'Revolutionary situation' or a Resilient state?

Author:
Anna Matveeva
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Since 2008, after a period of relative growth and social stability, the situation in Tajikistan has been steadily deteriorating, leading to increased speculation that the country could emerge as a failing state. Given its proximity to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the role it plays in the Northern Distribution Network – a line that funnels military supplies from Europe to NATO ISAF troops in Afghanistan – the ramifications of potential instability in Tajikistan would resonate beyond the country. The current briefing assesses to what extent such danger is in fact real by outlining developments in the key areas of economy and security, and examining the regime's capacity to cope with emerging challenges. The briefing concludes with recommendations for the EU and an outlook for future.
Topic:
NATO, Fragile/Failed State, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Tajikistan

80. Political Dimensions of the Northern Afghanistan Resupply Routes

Author:
Gregory Gleason
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
A series of insurgent attacks in Pakistan targeting U.S./NATO supply lines took place during the latter half of 2008 and early 2009. As much as 75 percent of the cargo to support military operations and development programs in Afghanistan previously had been shipped through Pakistan, passing through a small number of precarious transport corridors, constrained by chokepoints and subject to disruption. As a result of insurgent attacks, carriage of supplies through the Khyber Pass along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was repeatedly interrupted for brief periods. These events in Pakistan shifted Allied attention from the southern routes to Afghanistan's northern access routes. The existing transit routes for supplies entering Afghanistan from the north passed across European and Eurasian countries and then through the Central Asian countries. This combination of port, air, rail, and road facilities came to be referred to within the framework of Afghanistan's normalization operations as the NDN-the "Northern Distribution Network."
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and Central Asia