The simplest way to solve the Afghan problem

In recent years, the most talked-about problems have been connected to Afghanistan; the most problematic point of the Earth, that is to say, because of international terrorism, and the production and trading of drugs. Moreover, many decisions have been made regarding such issues, the culmination of which was, “Operation Enduring Freedom,” carried out by American and British forces with the active support of NATO members. However, after so big an invasion that lasted almost a dozen years, what remains are the same issues. The U.S. had to deploy their main forces; the rest cannot or does not want to solve the problems of that area, or perhaps, there are some other powers that impede them to do it.

Again, Afghanistan is a center of terrorism; and again, Afghan drugs are being produced in large quantities. Today, when ISIS is on the rise in Afghanistan, yet again, the world’s focus is on this country. Recently Afghan officials reported that an offshoot of this terrorist group based near the Afghan-Pakistan border was expanding to new areas, recruiting new fighters, and widening the reach of attacks in the region. Today, Afghanistan’s opium poppy production goes into more than 90% of the heroin worldwide, and there seems no power able to stop it all…

What should be done? Is it so difficult to negate Afghan threat? As proven, just by killing Osama Bin Laden, it is impossible to change the balance there, the area that neither Great Britain in history nor the Soviet Union in the new era could take control over, requires more attention. Therefore, the Afghan issue should be analyzed from different aspects and dimensions so that a solvable result could be reached.

The fact to accept is that the issues mentioned above are not only the problems of the U.S., or of NATO; not even of Afghanistan. The world community should take full responsibility for them since global problems need global responses. What is meant here by responsibility is not destroying Afghanistan, but removing the constant state of anarchy in which the country has fallen into. One may say that Afghanistan has an internationally accepted government ruled by Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and only his regime has rights to solve the domestic problems of the country, but what if it cannot? The recent case related with General Dostum showed that there is controversy within the Afghan government itself. Such issues will not just resolve on their own.

Some may also argue that it would be anti-democratic to decide for Afghan people how they should live. However, democracy is not a system in which everyone can live as he wants. Democracy is where the majority decides all the rules, and the minority lives by such rules. There are fundamental human values, human rights, and anything which can pose danger to them and should receive a strong response. In this case, the world should also change Afghanistan without asking them, as the Afghan-originated problems touch all of the humanity. It would be wrong to sit at home if your neighbor set fire to his house and say that it is their life and private property. You would not say that you had no rights to put-out the fire.

Therefore, the United Nations should adopt a resolution that would divide thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan for 10 years into 10 parts where one of the world powers should be responsible for one of them. The responsibility should include not only reducing and stopping drug trafficking, terrorism, but also patronage for economic development. In this case, there would be on in charge, and each world power would try to show its superiority over others. Possible responsible countries could be USA, Great Britain, Russia, China, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey, South Korea (this is only a tentative list). The onus of making the attached area safe for humanity should be on each of them. If all the parts would be in safety, the Afghan problem should melt away naturally.

Here, the key point should be the sovereignty and territorial unity of the country. The resolution should cover this point so that it has exceptions to the rule. No player here should use its role to gain their own benefit and no step should be taken that could lead to the destruction of the statehood of Afghanistan.

There is a sureness that world powers would agree to the suggested way of solving the Afghan problem. However, the problem is, will they want it, considering the geopolitical and strategic importance of the country for each of them?