• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Trump’s Afghanistan Policies Prove Ineffective One Year On

Miranda Saunders by Miranda Saunders
07/23/18
in World
Trump and congressional Republicans

President Trump delivers and address to Congress in a joint session on February 28.

12
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

After 16 years of fighting, thousands of lives lost, and billions of dollars spent, the Trump administration made the decision one year ago to boost U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. The situation in the country remains dire, with recent U.N. figures reporting a record high 1,692 people killed in Afghanistan during the first half of 2018.

The White House will mark the anniversary of Trump’s Afghanistan and South Asia strategy in August, although many foreign policy experts caution that it has been ineffective.

The administration’s strategy has included an increased military presence in Afghanistan despite political pressures to follow timelines for troop withdrawal, as well as coercing neighboring Pakistan to stop harboring terrorists.

In January, the U.S. withheld roughly $2 billion in security aid and threatened more cuts if Islamabad continued to allow the Taliban to seek refuge. Meanwhile, Pakistan has been insisting that it has done much for the United States, while getting only “invective and mistrust” in return.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul where they spoke with the press about the outcomes of the policies. Both Pompeo and Ghani agreed that they had been tremendously successful, with Ghani even calling them a “game-changer.” Pompeo said there was “now hope” for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

But several peace talks have been in the works during the United States’ 17-year campaign in Afghanistan, none of which were successful. Many experts are skeptical as to the actual likelihood of peace this time around.

Patrick James, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Southern California, told The Globe Post this is “a truly difficult thing to forecast.”  

“There is not enough information to make any kind of reasonable prediction as yet. But given the long history of Afghanistan as something that is not really that well-integrated as a country, there is no reason to enter into this with optimism,” he said. 

Other experts are even less hopeful, doubting the Trump administration’s ability to help facilitate such talks. Michael Kugelman, the Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, told The Globe Post he was wondering “whether the Trump administration, which has securitized foreign policy and marginalized diplomacy, has the capacity to craft an effective negotiation strategy.”

In fact, previous administrations have already tried many of Trump’s strategies and failed, said Kugelman. During the administration of Barack Obama, security assistance to Pakistan decreased from $3.5 billion in 2011 to under $1 billion in 2016. Yet, in 2018, Islamabad has still failed to oblige, although it denies being a safe zone for extremists.

According to Vanda Felbab-Brown, a Brookings scholar of crime, conflict, and nontraditional security threats, a large part of the reason for Pakistan’s state-sponsored terrorism is fear. The Taliban remains Pakistan’s lone ally among the Afghan political powers and worries that alienating terrorists will further destabilize Afghanistan and promote it as a breeding-ground for anti-Pakistan militants. Additionally, actively going after the Afghan Taliban would likely spark retaliation in Pakistan.

Previously, the U.S. government has also increased troop presence in the hopes of cracking down on the Taliban, and those efforts were futile.

“If we tried to do it but failed with more than 100,000 troops during the height of the surge in 2010 and 2011, then you can bet your bottom dollar that we will fail this time around with only 15,000 troops. And I don’t see how removing deadlines for withdrawal will shift that depressing calculus,” said Kugelman.

However, removing troop withdrawal timelines could give the U.S. a strategic advantage, according to James. The White House may keep a privately-known timeline to withhold information from the enemy, which will also help not to provoke those who have a distaste for the U.S. spending money on other countries.

The Trump administration’s initial decision to increase presence was met with both surprise and disapproval by the American public. A POLITICO/ Morning Consult poll conducted last August revealed that only 20 percent of voters believed the U.S. should increase the number of troops in Afghanistan. Although, the idea of increased troop presence was more popular among Trump’s support base, with 31 percent of Republicans and Trump voters saying the U.S. should increase the amount of troops.

Ultimately, the administration’s “game-changer” policies in Afghanistan, as Ghani called it, are a rather redundant set of strategies that have failed in years past. Kugelman said that in sum, “At this point in time, the administration’s strategy has little to show for it in terms of getting Pakistan to crack down on the militants that target Americans in Afghanistan or of turning the tide of the war in Afghanistan.”

Share12Tweet
Miranda Saunders

Miranda Saunders

Related Posts

Mar-A-Lago raid
National

FBI Raid on Trump’s Home Ignites Political Firestorm

by Staff Writer
August 9, 2022
Afghan refugees
Featured

Pakistani Migrants in Afghanistan Caught in Quake No-Man’s Land

by Staff Writer
June 27, 2022
US President Donald Trump
Opinion

Owning the Words and the Libs

by Stephen J. Lyons
June 16, 2022
US Capitol riot
National

Trump ‘More Likely Than Not’ Obstructed Congress: US Judge

by Staff Writer
March 28, 2022
Afghanistan
Middle East

Taliban Vows in Geneva Talks to Protect Aid Workers: NGO

by Staff Writer
February 11, 2022
Afghan women
Middle East

Afghan Women Activists Say They Feel Betrayed by Oslo Talks

by Staff Writer
January 24, 2022
Next Post
UN helicopter in South Sudan

Violent Mob Attacks Aid Workers and Compounds in South Sudan

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders takes questions during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S.

Taking Aim at Trump's Critics, White House Seeks to Revoke Clearances

Recommended

Mar-A-Lago raid

FBI Raid on Trump’s Home Ignites Political Firestorm

August 9, 2022
Ukraine nuclear plant

Ukraine Calls for De-Militarization of Occupied Nuclear Plant

August 8, 2022
Toru Kubota

Myanmar Junta Charges Japanese Journalist With Encouraging Dissent

August 4, 2022
Nancy Pelosi

Taiwan Defiant as China Readies Military Drills Over Pelosi Visit

August 3, 2022
Protesters stand with placards in front of the statue of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, central London, after a demonstration outside the US Embassy

Considering the Patience of Gandhi for These Troubled Times

August 5, 2022
Antonio Guterres

UN Chief Warns Humanity ‘One Miscalculation Away From Nuclear Annihilation’

August 1, 2022

Opinion

Protesters stand with placards in front of the statue of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, central London, after a demonstration outside the US Embassy

Considering the Patience of Gandhi for These Troubled Times

August 5, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Owning the Words and the Libs

June 16, 2022
Officers in Uvalde, Texas, stand outside Robb Elementary School near a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims

Child Sacrifice Makes a Comeback

June 3, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post