Archive / Other publications
Obama: Withdrawing from Afghanistan, entering Pakistan?
14/05/2009 By Juan Garrigues
The recent deterioration in the situation in Pakistan has led some commentators to criticise the new US strategy for AfPak (Afghanistan and Pakistan) as a continuation of the policy of Bush. However, an in-depth analysis of the strategy shows that President Obama's team has taken significant steps in the right direction.
This comment by Juan Garrigues points out that, on the one hand, the US President is smoothing the way for a military withdrawal strategy from Afghanistan for the international community. On the other hand, the inclusion of Pakistan in the same scenario involves an implicit acknowledgement of the central role that Afghanistan's eastern neighbour ought to play in any strategy to stabilise the region. Moreover, the "entry" that Obama proposes into Pakistan is not military, but rather economic.
Download the full version of this publication, available in English (49 kB)
Spanish (43 kB)
To read or listen to the comments of our experts in the media about this and other topics, please visit our Press section.
Keywords
Afghanistan Al Qaeda Conflict European Union Middle East NATO Pakistan Terrorism United States USRelated publications
- Afghanistan and the crisis in Pakistan
- Afghanistan, the limits of counter-insurgency
- Afghanistan: new manoeuvres
- Afghanistan: what did the spanish soldiers die for?
- NATO struggles with an opium-funded war in Afghanistan
- The Afghanistan-Pakistán nexus
- The democratisation of a dependent state: the case of Afghanistan
- When More is Less: aiding statebuilding in Afghanistan
- Why Sometimes More is More: military assistance to Afghanistan
Bio author: Juan Garrigues
Juan Garrigues holds a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and an MA in International Studies from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
