Commentary
Despite having the resources and expertise, the Russian space industry missed the opportunity to offer the United States or China a mutually rewarding partnership in the lunar race.
Georgy Trishkin
{
"authors": [],
"type": "pressRelease",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Carnegie Europe"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "russia",
"programs": [
"Russia and Eurasia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"Afghanistan",
"Caucasus",
"Russia",
"Asia"
],
"topics": [
"Foreign Policy"
]
}
REQUIRED IMAGE
Press Release
Russia wants a positive outcome in Afghanistan, April, 27, 2010
Despite its importance, Russia’s perspective has been missing from many previous analyses of coalition policy in Afghanistan. Moscow is an essential part of the Afghan equation that is often overlooked.
Published on Apr 27, 2010
MOSCOW, Apr 27—Despite its importance, Russia’s perspective has been missing from many previous analyses of coalition policy in Afghanistan. Dmitri Trenin and Alexey Malashenko fill that gap with a new report that takes a fresh look at the coalition’s involvement in Afghanistan. They conclude that Moscow is an essential part of the Afghan equation that is often overlooked.
Russia remains cautious about becoming too involved in the conflict, but Moscow fears the prospect of instability in Central Asia and drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Russia wants to:
- Prevent an outright Taliban victory fearing that if the Taliban regain control they could export radicalism and support rebel activity in Russia’s near abroad. Even though there is a rivalry with the United States for influence in Central Asia, Russia essentially supports the U.S.-led coalition.
- Stem the flow of drugs out of Afghanistan to Russia’s consumers. Its leaders worry about the exponential growth in narcotics production in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.
- Restore a neutral, pacified Afghanistan to serve as a buffer state between Central Asia and the Greater Middle East.
“Russia views Afghanistan today largely through the prism of security threats to itself and its Central Asian neighborhood, where Moscow aspires to soft dominance,” write Trenin and Malashenko.
###
NOTES
- Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, has been with the Center since its inception. He retired from the Russian Army in 1993. From 1993–1997, Trenin held posts as a senior research fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome and a senior research fellow at the Institute of Europe in Moscow.
- Alexey Malashenko is a scholar-in-residence and co-chair of the Religion, Society, and Security Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. He is the author and editor of numerous books on Islam, Chechnya, and other issues, including The Islamic Alternative and the Islamist Project (Carnegie Moscow Center, 2006), Russia and Islam (Carnegie Moscow Center, 2007), Ramzan Kadyrov. The Chechen Version of Russian Authoritarianism (Carnegie Moscow Center, 2009).
- The Carnegie Moscow Center was established in 1993 and accommodates foreign and Russian researchers collaborating with Carnegie’s global network of scholars on a broad range of contemporary policy issues relevant to Russia—military, political, and economic.
- The Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Program has, since the end of the Cold War, led the field on Eurasian security, including strategic nuclear weapons and nonproliferation, development, economic and social issues, governance, and the rule of law.
- Press Contact: David Kampf, 202/939-2233, pressoffice@ceip.org
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
- Is There a Place for Russia in the New Race Back to the Moon?
- Power, Pathways, and Policy: Grounding Central Asia’s Digital AmbitionsCommentary
Central Asia’s digital ambitions are achievable, but only if policy is aligned with the region’s physical constraints.
Aruzhan Meirkhanova
- Conspiracy Theories Are Eclipsing the Real Dangers of Russia’s Messaging App MaxCommentary
The internet is awash not only with instructions from digital security experts, but also with urban legends and conspiracy theories that divert attention away from the real dangers of Max.
David Frenkel
- Blocking of Telegram App Sparks Rare Public Rift Among Russia’s ElitesCommentary
The prospect of a total block on Russia’s most popular messaging app has sparked disagreement between the regime’s political managers and its security agencies.
Andrey Pertsev
- The Afghanistan–Pakistan War Poses Awkward Questions for RussiaCommentary
Not only does the fighting jeopardize regional security, it undermines Russian attempts to promote alternatives to the Western-dominated world order.
Ruslan Suleymanov
