Russia As the West's Elusive Ally in Afghanistan, Fall 2010

The article examines Russia’s Afghan policy in light of the tentative Russo-West rapprochement in the aftermath of the August War in Georgia. It juxtaposes Russia’s regional interests and its global foreign policy agenda vis-à-vis the West in order to evaluate the true extent of Moscow’s involvement in Afghanistan. The article concludes that lack of resources and clear Afghan strategy overshadowed by Russia’s conflicting, and too often overambitious, foreign policy goals render Moscow as an unreliable partner who can offer the West very little in terms of tangible support in stabilizing post-Taliban Afghanistan.