Russia\u2019s foreign policy in Afghanistan is divided into two separate periods: 1-The period of the Soviet Union, especially its last 10 years, between 1979 and 1989, when the Soviet Red Army invaded Afghanistan to support the People\u2019s Democratic Government and to fight the Mujahideen. During that period, Russia\u2019s foreign policy toward Afghanistan was based on two theoretical approaches: \u201cideological\u201d (meaning the realization of the great normative modern power or the great Russian power) and \u201caggressive realism\u201d (meaning revisionist and aggressive behavior); and 2- The post-Soviet period, especially after the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001, when Russia\u2019s macro-foreign policy approaches in Afghanistan changed completely. The nature and approach of Russia\u2019s foreign policy in Afghanistan in that period can be assessed on the basis of two theoretical approaches, \u201cideological\u201d and \u201cdefensive realism\u201d (meaning deterrence and balancing of threatening powers).<\/p>\n
Afghanistan\u2019s place in Russia\u2019s foreign policy<\/strong><\/p>\n Afghanistan has always played a significant role in Russia\u2019s foreign policy and national security doctrines. Although Afghanistan is not one of Russia\u2019s neighbors and does not have a border with Russia, in the eyes of the Russians as a country that is a source of export of terrorism, extremism and drugs on the one hand, and on the other hand, bordering the region close to Russia (Central Asia), it is of particular importance to Moscow, and Kremlin officials have mainly sought to reduce and weaken the threatening waves from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n In other words, Russia\u2019s view of Afghanistan is defined by its view of Central Asia, which for decades has considered the region as its backyard and is sensitive against any destructive actions and spread of insecurity and instability to this region, which was once part of Russia\u2019s geography. The importance of the issue is as such that the Russians have made efforts to prevent spread of Afghanistan threats into the depth of strategy and its overflow to its borders as well as limiting the US influence in Central Asia by building and strengthening regional alliances such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and other multilateral security, political, and economic arrangements, as well as strengthening their bilateral security ties. Russia\u2019s alignment with the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, ostensibly to eliminate al-Qaeda and terrorist groups, can also be seen in this context.<\/p>\n Russia and current developments in Afghanistan<\/strong><\/p>\n Russia\u2019s foreign policy in response to developments in Afghanistan over the past decades to the present day, when the Taliban control large parts of the country, can be assessed from a \u201cgeopolitical\u201d perspective. The Kremlin sees the \u201cwithdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan,\u201d which 1- has \u201cweakened the central government\u201d in Kabul and 2- \u201cstrengthened the Taliban\u201d throughout the country, as an \u201copportunity\u201d. The policy that Russia is currently pursuing in Afghanistan is to try to fill in the gap left by the US withdrawal from the country. Unlike China, which has sought to fill in the gap through economic mechanisms, development programs, and investment in Afghanistan\u2019s infrastructure, Russia seeks to strengthen its presence and influence in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the US withdrawal, mainly through political mechanisms and security processes.<\/p>\n Of course, since the issue of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was raised a few years ago, those processes and mechanisms, including contact with the Taliban and some intelligence and political exchanges and even arms supplies, have been seriously on Moscow\u2019s foreign policy agenda which has been exacerbated simultaneously with the intensification of developments in Afghanistan in recent months. Russia has officially outlawed the Taliban as a \u201cterrorist\u201d group since 2003 and has been associated with that group ever since, although its level of support is unknown.<\/p>\n Russia is feeling good about the dismantling of the US and NATO military bases in Afghanistan, but remains concerned about the consequences of the US withdrawal and that the military withdrawal will be replaced by \u201csmart security\u201d presence and influence. More than 2,000 security and intelligence personnel have been stationed at the US Embassy in Kabul in recent weeks. To overcome the existing concerns, the Kremlin seeks to strengthen the processes that lead to the establishment of a \u201ccohesive state\u201d in Afghanistan; a government that can curb terrorism and extremism, especially in the north of the country, which borders Russia\u2019s southern borders, and guarantee Russia\u2019s economic interests, especially in the energy sector. As a rule, this government cannot be the government of Ashraf Ghani, which operates within the framework of American interests. In Moscow\u2019s view, the Taliban is an effective political and security tool for achieving its targets.<\/p>\n Moscow refers to the Taliban as a \u201cpolitically capable force\u201d that is \u201creally and clearly entitled to power\u201d that has become more moderate over time and its threats to Russia have diminished; therefore, it has the necessary readiness to enter the government and politics in Afghanistan \u201cseriously and officially\u201d. That is why Moscow\u2019s top officials are more assertive about the need to oust Ashraf Ghani\u2019s government in the future without NATO. This is what Zamir Kabulov, Russia\u2019s special envoy for Afghanistan, is emphasizing. Mr. Kabulov has emphasized in recent weeks that a transitional coalition government that includes the Taliban and \u201ca wide range of Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras\u201d is the only way out of the current stalemate; Afghanistan must form a new coalition government with representatives of all political parties, including the Taliban, and this is the only way out of the current crisis in the country.<\/p>\n But Russia has only one concern for the Taliban, and that is what Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is referring to. That is, the Taliban\u2019s advance in northern Afghanistan has led to extremist groups such as al-Qaeda invading Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where they have been secretly organizing; this is an important concern that has alarmed the Russian government.<\/p>\n Concluding remarks<\/strong><\/p>\n Moscow believes that what is happening in Afghanistan has direct and indirect security implications for the Russian Federation. For the Russians, threats include radical and extremist thoughts and behaviors, anti-Russian sentiments among the Afghan people and elites, largely due to very bad memories of the Soviet occupation, anti-Russian political currents, failure of the nation-state process of nation-building and production and processing of narcotics in Afghanistan\u2019s internal environment seriously threaten Russia\u2019s interests and security. The Kremlin is also particularly sensitive to threats to the strategic depth of Russia, Central Eurasia, in terms of the spread of insecurity and instability in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n To contain those threats, Russia\u2019s policy in Afghanistan includes the following strategies: 1. Expanding its influence, political, economic and security presence in the country through various means, including alienating Afghans from the United States (the people of Afghanistan are now deeply dissatisfied with Washington\u2019s unacceptable record of rebuilding Afghanistan, which has led to a staggering rise in corruption among Afghan official); 2- Repelling anti-security waves with the aim of curbing terrorism in Afghanistan and preventing spread of extremism to Central Asian countries; 3- Expansion of economic activities, including in the energy sector; 4- And finally, strengthening the security indicators in the borders of the Russian Federation and the nearby outside region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Strategic Council Online \u2013 Note: The policy that Russia is currently pursuing in Afghanistan is an effort to fill the vacuum created by the US withdrawal from the country by strengthening its presence and influence through political mechanisms and security processes, unlike China, which uses mechanisms of economic, development, and investment programs in Afghanistan\u2019s infrastructure in an effort to fill in the said gap.
\nHamid Khoshayand \u2013 Analyst of International Affairs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":135607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13268,17,12726],"tags":[33653,12869,21732,15490,19540,18793,25297,13070,17848],"class_list":["post-135633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-note","category-politics","category-10-en-2","tag-al-qaeda-en-2","tag-china-en","tag-drugs","tag-energy","tag-extremism","tag-fight-agasint-terrorism","tag-hamid-khoshayand","tag-russia-en","tag-uzbakistan"],"yoast_head":"\n