Russians Shouldn’t Be Happy About America’s Afghan Misfortune: Kommersant, Russia

In regard to Afghanistan, should Russians indulge in a little schadenfreude - a German word meaning taking pleasure in the pain of others – or should it help the United States out of its predicament.

For Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, columnist Sergey Markedonov asks his readers:

“Should we be happy over the misfortune of our ’sworn friend’ the U.S. – particularly against the background of the current reset of bilateral relations? …”

After pointing out that fighting in Afghanistan has impinged on Russian interest before and resulted in a security treaty among the Commonwealth of Independent States – the post-Soviet bloc of countries that include Russia’s near-abroad – Markedonov writes:

“Let us ask ourselves a non-rhetorical question: in case of a total failure on the part of the Americans and British, could the Collective Security Treaty really shield us against a new Afghan ‘export’? Meanwhile, it would be worthwhile acknowledging that for virtually the first time in history – the West has decided to do the dirty work for us. … Today, the West is ready to share our security concerns in Central Asia. And who knows? Perhaps if it weren’t for NATO and the U.S. with their wild project in Afghanistan, it would be us having to take on the pacification of this volatile country.”

By Sergey Markedonov

Translated By Igor Medvedev

October 19, 2009

Russia – Kommersant – Original Article (Russian)

In contemplating the situation in Afghanistan, it’s hard to escape the feeling of a geopolitical trap. In the eight years of NATO activity (in fact, a largely U.S.-British operation) in this country, none of the key issues on the Afghan agenda has been resolved. Moreover, in every respect there has been a clearly negative dynamic. Taliban terrorist activity has not declined. Drug trafficking, despite all the measures that have been taken, is measured by numbers with lots of zeros. In Afghanistan today, the practice of making “local agreements” is being actively practiced in areas where the weak and ephemeral central government has no influence. In turn, local leaders swear their “loyalty” to an Afghan government with painfully little legitimacy, and which is perceived by Afghanistan’s multi-ethnic majority as a foreign entity with strong ties to the West.

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