Challenges and Opportunities for the Obama Administration in Central Asia
Abstract
President Obama has outlined a comprehensive strategy for the war in Afghanistan which is now the central front of the U.S. campaign against Islamic terrorism. The strategy strongly connects the prosecution of that war to U.S. policy in Pakistan and internal developments there as a necessary condition of victory. But the strategy also has provided for a new logistics road through Central Asia. In this monograph, Dr. Stephen Blank argues that a winning strategy in Afghanistan depends upon the systematic leveraging of the opportunity provided by that road and a new coordinated nonmilitary approach to Central Asia. That approach would rely heavily on improved coordination at home and a more effective leveraging of U.S. economic power in Central Asia to help stabilize the region so that it provides a secure rear to Afghanistan. In this fashion, the United States would help Central Asia meet the challenges of extremism and of economic decline due to the global economic crisis, thus helping to provide political stability in states that are likely to be challenged by the confluence of those trends. This timely monograph contributes directly to the debate on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Central Asia in the hope that policy makers will find it informative and useful, and that those who may be called upon to implement the policy will be able to do so more effectively.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA499700
Entities
People
- Stephen J. Blank
Organizations
- United States Army War College