Description
The paper draws on previous studies regarding the politics of ‘regional’ v ‘international’ solutions in relations to the security situation in and around Afghanistan. It begins by setting out the current constructions and parameters of such frameworks being proposed and put in place after the US’ withdrawal in August 2021. It then investigates the extent to which Russia has sought to step into the so-called void left by the West and considers the package of bilateral, regional and international initiatives being put forward by Moscow. In so doing, and drawing on insights from IR and Critical Geography, it critically assesses the spatial and scale politics of the domestic, regional and international within the articulation of the security crisis currently unfolding in Afghanistan. It argues that rather than presenting the security crisis in Afghanistan as operating on a single plane, Moscow is in fact articulating this issue through a multi-scalar perspective – whereby multiple overlapping constructions of both the problem and solution function simultaneously.
