09 March 2009
Biden Seeks European Perspectives on Afghan-Pakistan Strategy
Trans-Atlantic allies latest stop in review of South Asia policy
Washington — Vice President Biden is heading to Brussels to seek advice from America’s allies as the White House formulates a new way forward for international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.
Biden will hold consultations March 10 in the NATO alliance’s principal forum, the North Atlantic Council, according to a March 9 statement by the White House. He will also hold meetings with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and senior European Union officials, as well as representatives from several non-NATO nations participating in the alliance’s 55,000-strong, 41-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
Biden’s visit is the latest step in the Obama administration’s effort to engage allies and partners worldwide in forging a new way forward in Afghanistan, a challenge Obama has identified as a top foreign policy priority. (See “Analysis: Afghanistan Needs the World’s Help.”)
“The Taliban is bolder than it was. … The national government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people,” Obama said in a March 6 New York Times interview. “We’ve got to recast our policy so that our military, diplomatic and development goals are all aligned.”
Biden’s visit to Brussels comes days after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s debut appearance at NATO, where she urged allies to consider providing more troops and training personnel for Afghan security forces, as well as civilian experts, in an effort to reverse deteriorating security conditions and start strengthening the Afghan government ahead of elections later in the year. (See “NATO Agrees to Resume High-Level Ties with Russia.”)
“We have a sense of urgency in the Obama administration. We believe that there are a lot of challenges and threats that we have inherited that we have to address,” Clinton said in a March 6 interview with National Public Radio. “We are listening. We’re consulting. We don’t pretend to have all the answers to meet these problems that we share.”
Clinton also proposed a high-level, international “big tent” conference bringing together Afghanistan, Pakistan and all of their regional neighbors — including Iran. If approved, the meeting would be convened by the United Nations March 31.
“We hope that this meeting could provide an opportunity to reach a common set of principles, perhaps embodied in a chairman’s statement on a common way forward,” Clinton said.
On taking office, Obama named veteran U.S. diplomat and Balkans peacemaker Richard Holbrooke as his special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and ordered a comprehensive strategic review of U.S. policy in the region. Obama also ordered 17,000 additional U.S. troops to the region to reinforce the NATO-led ISAF mission ahead of Afghan elections.
A key ingredient to the review has been close consultations with allies. Afghanistan has topped the agenda in several of Obama’s phone calls to world leaders. Biden continued the conversation on Afghanistan with world leaders on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany in February. (See “Biden Says Finding Lasting Mideast Peace Requires Collaboration.”)
“We are sincere in seeking your counsel,” Biden told the security conference. “The result must be a comprehensive strategy for which we all take responsibility that brings together our civilian and military resources, that prevents terrorists a safe haven, that helps the Afghan people develop the capacity to secure their own future.”
Holbrooke joined Biden in Munich, and then traveled on to Pakistan, Afghanistan and India for an initial round of regional consultations. Afghan and Pakistani delegations then traveled to Washington to contribute their insights on the current challenges facing the region. (See “Afghan, Pakistani Officials Join White House Strategy Talks.”)
The White House expects to complete its Afghan policy review before Obama travels to Europe in April for the NATO 60th Anniversary Summit, hosted by France and Germany. As many as 20 nations participating in the ISAF mission have already pledged, during a February 20 gathering of NATO defense ministers in Poland, to join the United States in expanding their support to Afghanistan. (See “Allies Agree to Boost Afghanistan Aid.”)
“Afghanistan is not a U.S. mission, it’s a NATO mission,” Obama said in a February 27 interview. “Part of our goal is, when I go to the NATO Summit in April, to have a conversation with our NATO allies … to figure out how we coordinate more effectively to move the ball forward.”
What actions do you think President Obama should take to engage allies in efforts to promote security and development in South Asia? Comment on America.gov’s blog.
