Continuation of violence in Afghanistan overflows to entire Middle East

Robert D. Crews, in an interview with IQNA News Agency warned of more violence in Afghanistan and that the war would overflow to other countries since countries since the past and future in west Asian countries are linked to each other, reported Taqrib News Agency (TNA).

He said,” No country benefits displaced civilians, war-stricken economy and illegal drugs which help continuation of violence.”

In his view Taliban militants have made use of the power vacuum following the pullout of US forces from Afghanistan, weak central government and also threatening the civilians.

He said,” Corruption is the key issue which has legality of Afghan government leading some communities to find the prospect of Taliban appealing in regards to prevalence of “law and order” though the Taliban law translates to oppression, ethnic cleansing and gender violence.”

When asked if the peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government was a waste of time for the militant group he noted that since the beginning the talks between Taliban and the US and then with the Afghan government was totally beneficial for Taliban because they have won leverages without any benefits to the government.

Professor of Princeton University noted that the US project in Afghanistan was a failure although some Afghans made great achievements in the light of the security created by US forces in the country.

He said that the intensification of the security in Afghanistan was a repercussion of US pullout without serious thoughts on possible outcomes of the decision.

The US was seeking hegemony in the political system of Afghanistan in order to pursue its ambitions in the country and it proved to be useless for the Afghans who sought cooperation, inclusiveness and power sharing in the future political system of Afghanistan.

In his view the empowerment of Afghans would benefit neither the neighboring countries nor the foreign-backed warring sides and that regional leaders should note that they will all benefit prevalence of peace in Afghanistan.

He concluded that peace in Afghanistan will include regional cooperation in the fields of trade, transportation, education and natural resources while continuation of violence will overflow to the neighboring countries leading to insecurity in entire region.

Robert D. Crews is an historian whose research and teaching interests focus on Afghanistan, Central and South Asia, Russia, Islam, and Global History. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he received an MA in History from Columbia University and a PhD degree in History from Princeton University.

Author of Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation and Fore Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia has served as Director of the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies and of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the journal Afghanistan (The American Institute of Afghanistan Studies/Edinburgh University Press).