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Friday, March 29, 2024

Will Trump’s ‘new’ Afghan strategy be successful?

Nasir Azeem |

The Foreign Policy of every state on the world map is always carved out to protect its national interests. But what is national interest and by what standards can it be determined?

One thing is crystal clear that blindly serving US strategic interests in the region has nothing to do with our national interests. Lack of vibrant and nimble external policy is one of the few mammoth challenges that Pakistan is facing today. “Clarity of thought” is missing on top which is adding fuel to the fire.

Uncle Sam’s flawed Afghan Policy

Whether someone buys our narrative out there In US or not but Pakistan knows it very well that our future is linked with the peaceful Afghanistan

Trump has announced his policy on Afghan conflict which is a “lethal blend” of past bad experiences and some new miscalculations based on presumptions. He had backed off from Afghan withdrawal which he promised during his Presidential campaign a few months back and decided to follow the stance of the all-powerful US establishment instead of implementing his own agenda on Afghan soil like his predecessor Obama.

Read more: New Afghan Policy – Implications for Pakistan

Trump while defending his policy said that withdrawing American troops from Afghan soil would leave a “vacuum” that terrorists “would instantly fill”, but analysts say, sending more troops would only deepen the crisis in the country. The US is going to enhance the number of covert operations which will be counterproductive and further aggravate the already worsening situations and will leave no room for political dialogue with Afghan Taliban which could have helped to resolve the conflict amicably.

Across the board operations against all the banned organizations and implementation of national action plan instead of brushing it under the carpet

Mr. Trump asked Pakistan to ”Do More” without realizing for a single moment that a political settlement is at hand and the US itself can get rid of this war once and for all. If the “Afghan Question” is answered through political means, Washington would be the biggest beneficiary. Trump needs to understand that this “farrago” would not serve US foreign policy purposes.

Without Pakistan, there is no “honorable” way out for Uncle Sam from war-torn Afghanistan. Merely shifting blame or threatening Pakistan for failures like the US did in Vietnam isn’t enough? It’s high time for the new administration to revisit USA’s more than decade old flawed Afghan policy.

Read more: Trump outsources the Afghan policy to his generals

“Trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, is a sign of insanity”

Albert Einstein

China’s Support in the Moment of Need

China believes that it’s not Pakistan but the US to be blamed for wrong and unrealistic foreign policy objectives. Pakistan should be thankful to the emerging superpower for propagating our side of the story on every global forum

On Tuesday, China sprang to Pakistan’s defense after US President Trump lambasted Pakistan for providing “Safe Sanctuaries” to various militants’ outfits working against US strategic interests. In response to Trump’s allegations, China appreciated Pakistan’s crucial role in global efforts to curtail militancy to bring long-lasting peace in the entire region and asked the international community to acknowledge Pakistan’s sacrifices.

China believes that it’s not Pakistan but the US who is to be blamed for wrong and unrealistic foreign policy objectives. Pakistan should be thankful to the emerging superpower for propagating our side of the story on every global forum. Although, we lack any comprehensive roadmap to convince other crucial political players to speak in support of our narrative all around the globe.

Read more: Delhi, Kabul hail Trump’s new South Asia policy

“Most wanted” Foreign policy

US is going to enhance the number of covert operations which will be counterproductive and further aggravate the already worsening situations and there is no room for political dialogue with Afghan Taliban which could have helped to resolve the conflict amicably

Pakistan as a sovereign state needs to stand on its own feet’s for projection of her contributions in “War against Terrorism” and inform the world about the sacrifices we made in this regard. Looking towards China round the clock adds insult to our injuries and exposes the failures of our “Missing” foreign policy.

The real “policy makers” should think that they need to prefer national self-respect over few billion dollars in form of US Aid. We have already paid a huge price for this “Never Ending” war.

Read more: A policy in search of a strategy

For us the challenge is twofold, first to stop India from attaining any “bigger role” in Afghanistan and secondly, we desperately need to put our house in order. Across the board operations against all the banned organizations should be conducted and implementation of national action plan must be ensured instead of brushing it under the carpet. Pakistan has to explore new diplomatic options with changing circumstances.

Pakistan knows it very well that our future is linked with peaceful Afghanistan. Geographical boundaries are constant. Sooner or later, the US would leave Afghan soil but Pakistan would be here to face the music.

Nasir Azeem is a political analyst. He has interests in contemporary politics and history. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.