Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice

President Barak H. Obama promised that his administration in pursuit of the US interests would stabilize Afghanistan. President Obama in 2009 introduced the AfPak or Afghanistan and Pakistan Policy. Obama’s AfPak Policy in outlining America’s intentions in Afghanistan was announced over two phases:...

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Main Author:	Ra'ees, Wahabuddin
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	JA Political science (General) JZ International relations
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/1/Obama%27sAfghanistanStrategy.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/7/32022_evidence.pdf

id	iium-32022
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-320222018-03-27T07:58:41Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/ Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice Ra'ees, Wahabuddin JA Political science (General) JZ International relations President Barak H. Obama promised that his administration in pursuit of the US interests would stabilize Afghanistan. President Obama in 2009 introduced the AfPak or Afghanistan and Pakistan Policy. Obama’s AfPak Policy in outlining America’s intentions in Afghanistan was announced over two phases: the Obama March 27, 2009, Afghanistan Strategy and the Obama December 1, 2009, Afghanistan Strategy. The US AfPak Policy’s recognition that there is no military-only solution to the Afghan quagmire and focus on soft powers and nation building efforts distinguishes it from Bush’s Afghanistan Policy. The Obama AfPak Policy will terribly fail if the US abandons the intra-Afghan dialogue and if the dialogue it suggests with powers with stakes results in ‘sourcing out’ Afghanistan again. President Obama should not have made public the July 2011 deadline for a drawdown and eventual withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in his December 1, 2009, tier of AfPak Policy announcement. Disengagement or abandoning Afghanistan entails serious consequences for the US interests in the region. The US has a ‘stabilizing’ role and therefore must work out an alternative approach such as strengthening the existing ‘declaration of strategic partnership’ with Afghanistan to remain engaged. Sending additional troops jeopardizes the US chances of not seen as occupying force by the Afghans similar to the Soviet Union. The Obama administration should have shared Secretary Gates’s fear that the Afghans will view the US as an occupying power similar to the Soviet Union when deliberating on sending additional troops requested by the US Commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. 2012-12-21 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/1/Obama%27sAfghanistanStrategy.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/7/32022_evidence.pdf Ra'ees, Wahabuddin (2012) Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice. In: Seminar on Afghanistan: Present Realities and Future Prospects 2012, 21st December 2012, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished) http://www.iais.org.my/e/index.php/events-sp-1744003054/past-events/401-panel-presentation-on-afghanistan-present-realities-and-future-prospects.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English
topic	JA Political science (General) JZ International relations
spellingShingle	JA Political science (General) JZ International relations Ra'ees, Wahabuddin Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice
description	President Barak H. Obama promised that his administration in pursuit of the US interests would stabilize Afghanistan. President Obama in 2009 introduced the AfPak or Afghanistan and Pakistan Policy. Obama’s AfPak Policy in outlining America’s intentions in Afghanistan was announced over two phases: the Obama March 27, 2009, Afghanistan Strategy and the Obama December 1, 2009, Afghanistan Strategy. The US AfPak Policy’s recognition that there is no military-only solution to the Afghan quagmire and focus on soft powers and nation building efforts distinguishes it from Bush’s Afghanistan Policy. The Obama AfPak Policy will terribly fail if the US abandons the intra-Afghan dialogue and if the dialogue it suggests with powers with stakes results in ‘sourcing out’ Afghanistan again. President Obama should not have made public the July 2011 deadline for a drawdown and eventual withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in his December 1, 2009, tier of AfPak Policy announcement. Disengagement or abandoning Afghanistan entails serious consequences for the US interests in the region. The US has a ‘stabilizing’ role and therefore must work out an alternative approach such as strengthening the existing ‘declaration of strategic partnership’ with Afghanistan to remain engaged. Sending additional troops jeopardizes the US chances of not seen as occupying force by the Afghans similar to the Soviet Union. The Obama administration should have shared Secretary Gates’s fear that the Afghans will view the US as an occupying power similar to the Soviet Union when deliberating on sending additional troops requested by the US Commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Ra'ees, Wahabuddin
author_facet	Ra'ees, Wahabuddin
author_sort	Ra'ees, Wahabuddin
title	Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice
title_short	Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice
title_full	Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice
title_fullStr	Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice
title_full_unstemmed	Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice
title_sort	obama’s afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice
publishDate	2012
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/1/Obama%27sAfghanistanStrategy.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/32022/7/32022_evidence.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:46:12Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:46:12Z
_version_	1777409691333165056

Obama’s Afghanistan strategy: a policy of balancing the reality with the practice

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