Why aren Russia and China more engaged in the war in Afghanistan?
The way the Russians and the Chinese have tended to deal with Afghanistan is really as America’s problem. The Chinese really have very little connection or contact with Afghanistan. They have traditionally been allies of Pakistan, which has been traditionally seen as Afghanistan’s rival. The Russians, as you know, had a pretty bad experience in Afghanistan and are gun-shy. But why aren’t the Russians and Chinese more invested in producing regional stability? I think in a way that is one of the central challenges we face in trying to create a more stable world. How do you get the Russians and Chinese and other countries like India and Brazil to step up to the plate more? I think it’s a very good question, a very fair question. I think the Bush administration’s approach clearly failed, and now we are trying another approach. There are early signs on Iraq [that] it has been more successful. The Russians are being more cooperative. But it’s difficult. They don’t see the world quite as we d
