Afghanistan, Pakistan and Strategic Change

The region encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan (Af/Pak region) is undergoing a fundamental strategic change. This book analyses the nature of this strategic change, in ordre to seek possible future scenarios and to examine policy options. It also undertakes a critical review of the basic elements of the Western strategic approach towards dealing with regional conflicts in all parts of the world, with special emphasis on the Af/Pak region. Dealing with the political developments i one of the most volatile regions in the world - Afghanistan and Pakistan - the volume focuses on Western strategic concerns. The withdrawal of ISAF by 2014 will change the overall political setting and the work addresses the challenges that will result for Western policymakers thereafter. It examines the cases of Afghanistan and Pakistan separately, and also looks at the broader region and tries to identify different outcomes. This book will be of much interest to students of Central and South Asian politics, strategic studies, foreign policy and security studies generally.

Joachim Krause is Professor of International Relations at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Germany, and has published more than 20 books. Charles King Mallory IV is Executive Director of the Aspen Institute, Berlin, and previously served as senior advisor to the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs.

1. Adjusting Western Strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, Joachim Krause and Charles King Mallory, IV Part I: The Afghanistan Problem 2. Not too Little, but too Late - ISAF's Strategic Restart of 2010 in Light of the Coalition's Previous Mistakes, Robin Schroeder 3. Prospects for Transition in Afghanistan, Anthony Cordesman with the assistance of Ashley Hess 4. Launching an Afghan Peace Process, James Dobbins 5. Afghanistan between Democratization and Civil War: Post-2014 Scenarios, Thomas Ruttig Part II: Pakistan the Ambiguous Partner 6. Militant Islam in South Asia: Past Trajectories and Present Implications, Ryan Brasher and Sumit Ganguly 7. U.S. Pakistan Relations: Ten Years After 9/11, C. Christine Fair Part III: The Broader Strategic Context 8. Transition in the Afghanistan-Pakistan War and the Uncertain Role of the Great Powers, Anthony Cordesman with the assistance of Ashley Hess 9. The NATO Drawdown: Implications for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Keith Crane and Victoria Greenfield 10. Internal and Regional Preconditions and Assumptions for Peace in Afghanistan, Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh