What Russia, China and Iran Want in Afghanistan After U.S. Troops Leave

RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN ARE preparing for the U.S. military to leave Afghanistan at a time of aggravated tensions and soaring violence in the war-torn nation with which they have unique and historical ties.

As these plans take form, Newsweek has contacted officials from the three countries with respect to their plans to balance the risks and opportunities associated with the volatile developments in Afghanistan.

All three seek to ensure stability in Afghanistan and its periphery while securing their own interests as friendly ties with Kabul are tested by a desire to engage with the powerful Taliban movement that has retaken much of the country.

Russia

FOR RUSSIA, THIS MEANS STEPPING UP to a longstanding engagement in a country where it has a modern history of intervention and withdrawal.

The 1980s Soviet attempt to defend a communist government in Kabul was met with fierce resistance by local and foreign mujahideen fighters, who received support from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The collapse of the government that eventually emerged from the strife led to a civil war in the 1990s, in which the Taliban was born and ultimately swept through Afghanistan, taking control of most of the country until the 2001 massive U.S.-led military campaign after 9/11.

Russia, which backed the embattled Northern Alliance in Kabul at the time, initially supported the