Carnegie Moscow Center
After the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban will most likely regain the power under the auspices of Pakistan and possibly of another neighbor—China.
In recent years, the EU has displayed a lack of political will to become a serious global player. Next month’s Eastern Partnership summit is an opportunity not to be wasted.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 equates with an unquestionable strengthening of the Taliban movement or even with its actual coming to power. The external actors will have to adjust to the new situation and the future Afghan coalition leadership which will include the Taliban.
A preliminary date has been set for the Geneva II negotiations and the Syrian opposition is expected to sit down with representatives from Bashar al-Assad’s regime to discuss the prospect of a unity government. But note the word ”preliminary.”
A pro-European Ukraine would have huge advantages for Poland and the rest of the EU. But it would also have broader consequences for Eastern Europe’s complex web of interests.
In the run-up to 2014, when the U.S./NATO combat forces due to leave Afghanistan, fears multiply that a major extremist threat is rising again for the neighborhood and beyond. Russia is right to focus on the southern flank as far as its most pressing security needs are concerned.
Putin aims for a world order in which the Security Council’s five permanent members, not the United States—alone or with its allies—decide on major issues pertaining to war and peace.
After 1998 nuclear tests, India and Pakistan experienced several crises, including the 1999, 2002, and 2008 events. They have already agreed on some confidence-building measures, though unverified. Do India and Pakistan need a more dangerous crisis to start arms control talks and negotiations on verification mechanisms?
The emerging rapprochement between Washington and Tehran creates a potential opportunity for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to boost his country’s international standing.
Next to maintaining a strict balance between two former overlords, Beijing and Moscow, Ulan Bator seeks to balance its both physical neighbors with a third—virtual—one.