Half a year since a national unity government was formed in Afghanistan, the government is still confronted by deteriorating security situation and vulnerable economy even after the Afghan National Army (ANA) took over responsibility for national defense in January. To prevent the situation from worsening, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah paid a visit to the US on March 21 and met with US heavyweights including Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew.
Apparently, Kabul expected more aid from the US to help stabilize the country. After meeting with Ghani and Abdullah, Kerry hailed the talks as "productive" and said the two countries shared "a commitment to security and peace and a desire to promote prosperity and social progress." Washington announced that by the end of 2015 roughly 9,800 US troops would remain in Afghanistan instead of 5,500 as originally planned, and that the US would keep its military bases in Kandahar and Jalalabad open. The US would also provide $800 million to bolster US-Afghan relations and Afghan economic reforms and fund Afghan security forces at least into 2017.
These aids can alleviate the pressure on Ghani's unity government moderately, but in addressing challenges facing Afghanistan, the US will only play a limited role.
US President Barack Obama and his administration are not able to meet Ghani's vision. After decades of warfare, the unity government is keen to strengthen the country's security and boost its economic development, and enormous investment is needed.
In January, the Afghan parliament's lower house approved the 2015 budget totaling $7.6 billion, with almost $2.4 billion from domestic fiscal revenue and the rest from international aid. The financial gap is nearly 70 percent and grows drastically every year. Although Washington is able to fix the gap, it expects the unity government to achieve its goals on its own.
In fact, there has been no substantial improvement witnessed in Afghanistan's security situation since NATO forces arrived in 2003. Instead, violence and terror attacks appeared to be gradually increasing. On the 2014 Global Terrorism Index, Afghanistan's score rose from 5.83 in 2002 to 9.39 in 2013. The US even weakens its hostility toward the Taliban to help improve security in Afghanistan.
Besides, the issues in Afghanistan can only be tackled through multilateral cooperation. World powers like Britain and the Soviet Union attempted to control Afghanistan but failed, and Afghanistan was known as the "graveyard of empires."
The US is highly aware of the importance of cooperation since 49 countries in all had participated in its anti-terror operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The reconstruction of social and economic order is essential to Afghanistan, but it is also a huge project of international cooperation that requires the US to work with its Western allies and other powers as well as Afghanistan's neighboring countries.
This was pointed out by the US Congress in a February report. Of the $4.1 billion annual spending by the ANA, $2.3 billion was provided by the US, $500 million by the unity government and $1.3 billion by the international community.
Moreover, it may better serve the US policy on Central Asia to let the Afghan problems linger. The US backed the New Silk Road Initiative to facilitate the economic ties in Central and South Asia and to gain an upper hand in competing for bigger influence with Russia in Central Asian countries. After the Ukraine crisis, it has become more obvious that the US wants to weaken Russia's weight in Central Asia. As Afghanistan serves as a trump card, it benefits the US that Washington keeps the problems under control before finding an alternative.
All in all, the US refers primarily to its own national interests in dealing with Afghanistan. Unless an alternative scheme that can meet its demands for national interests emerges, Washington will be unlikely to help Afghan unity government to achieve its goals.
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