Pakistan's Afghan Triumph Carries Risks for Islamabad

Pakistan’s Afghan Triumph Carries Risks for Islamabad

“Landi Kotal, Pakistan – May 9, 2006 – Two Pakistani men (on the left a Pakistani soldier) looking over the mountains at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The mountain in the background are in Afghanistan”

Posted: February 26th, 2020

By Tim Willasey-Wilsey, Former Senior Member, British Foreign Office

Tim Willasey-Wilsey served for over 27 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is now Visiting Professor of War Studies at King's College, London. His first overseas posting was in Angola during the Cold War followed by Central America during the instability of the late 1980s. He was also involved in the transition to majority rule in South Africa and in the Israel/Palestine issue.

Tim Willasey-Wilsey is a former senior member of the British Foreign Office. He is currently a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London’s Department of War Studies.

When one looks at the proposed agreement between the United States and the Taliban due to be signed on 29^th February there is one stand-out winner; Pakistan. Since 2001, Pakistan has played a high-stakes game but, whereas other players (notably NATO countries) have flip-flopped between policies, Pakistan has retained its strategic vision and held firm. However Islamabad (or rather Rawalpindi; because Afghan strategy is dictated by the Army) needs to be careful. If the next 2 or 3 years go badly in Kabul there could be serious implications for Pakistan’s own territorial integrity.

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