ISF International Security Forum

Tuesday, 31 May 2011, 16:00 - 17:30

Hosted by the Center for Security Studies (CSS)

As NATO prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan in the forthcoming years, the role of states in close proximity to Afghanistan in managing Afghan security will increase significantly. The neighboring states have numerous security concerns related to Afghanistan, including interconnections between terrorist, extremist and opposition groups in Afghanistan and these countries and the flow of illegal narcotics originating from Afghanistan. In light of these challenges to their domestic security, these regimes are very interested in enhancing stability in Afghanistan. This panel will examine how the Central Asian republics, China, India, Pakistan and Russia view the current situation in Afghanistan, and how it impacts upon them, as well as what strategy for ensuring security they are pursuing. It will also consider the potentiality of a coordinated regional approach to the state-building process in Afghanistan, and whether there is scope for significant cooperation with the West in this respect.

Listen to The Other Sides of Afghanistan: The Significance of Afghanistan’s Neighborhood (Audio)

Chairs

Stephen Aris
Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Aglaya Snetkov
Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Speakers

India and Pakistan
Anatol Lieven
Professor, Department of War Studies, King’s College London, UK
Senior Research Fellow, New America Foundation, Washington, DC, US

Russia
Vitaly Naumkin
Director, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

China and Central Asian Republics
Niklas Swanström
Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), Nacka, Sweden
Research Fellow, John Hopkins University, Washington DC, US

More on Discussion Topic

South Asia, Middle East, Central Asia

Location

Orange Room