The significance of this transition will be much more than reducing America’s military footprint: It will be an unprecedented effort to delegate responsibility for Afghanistan’s future while maintaining the gains made during a decade-long war.

The beginning of this transition has been ongoing: cutting a deal between Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s government and factions of the Taliban. As former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and many others have suggested, reductions in American combat troops should be sensitive to these negotiations. The purpose of the 33,000 used in the troop surge was to lessen the Taliban’s influence and give the Karzai government breathing room to negotiate. Leaving too quickly would undermine the considerable security gains made by U.S. and coalition forces.

Afghans remember the U.S. breaking its promise to help rebuild after the Soviet invasion. We can’t make the same mistake twice.

To be clear, there are no good options in Afghanistan. The country always has been — and always will be — a collection of tribes inhabiting a mountainous piece of earth. We have used our military and civil forces to the best of our abilities, and now we must craft a forward-looking international framework. The benefits of an orderly drawdown would be profound. Bringing our troops home will be welcomed in a nation whose people are tired of countless redeployments of friends and family.
Lawmakers will no longer have to justify sending $2 billion a week to Kabul while Washington, D.C., runs record budget deficits.

Additionally, a multilateral enforcement agreement would require tacit recognition by the world that countries other than the U.S. must pull their weight on the international stage. The cycle of countries mocking any American intervention as “world policing” and then scolding the U.S. when crises remain unresolved will come to an end. Those who bicker about American involvement abroad will have to put their money and military where their mouths are as they tackle big world problems without significant American military resources.

When every bit of federalism is achieved in Afghanistan, an international mechanism for enforcement will have to be agreed to for long-term stability. It will be in China, India, Pakistan and Russia’s strategic interests to contribute to the enforcement agreement after American combat troops leave. The U.S. must use every stick and carrot in its toolbox to make sure each country pulls its weight.

As part of such an international mechanism, America will have to show great prudence in handling the fragile India-Pakistan relationship. Securing any level of stability in Afghanistan will require an incredible working relationship between both countries.

President Barack Obama should establish a multilateral relationship between the U.S., India and Pakistan when discussing Afghan security matters. Meeting separately with India and Pakistan as presidents have in the past invokes the inherent security dilemma between two rivals vying for influence and power. Having both at the table reiterates that Afghanistan is a mutual security interest.

Delegating responsibility to countries in Afghanistan’s vicinity also will put pressure on European allies to pull their weight as well. It’s no secret that America bore the military and financial brunt of the Afghan war. If India and China agree to have skin in the game, it becomes very hard for the United Kingdom or France to shirk their international responsibilities.

Finally, such an accomplishment would refute the notion that America has become a dysfunctional nation in decline. An American-led Afghan agreement will show the world we are more than Congress arguing over healthcare reform or raising the debt ceiling. In the aftermath of killing bin Laden, assigning international responsibility in Afghanistan tells the world America is tough, able and smart enough to take on 21st century security challenges.

Altogether, pulling off a regional framework for a sustainable situation in Afghanistan would be the greatest foreign policy achievement in half a century.

Let’s hope it works.

Ameek Singh is a State News guest columnist and an international relations junior. Reach him at sodhiame@msu.edu.