Necessity of Strengthening the Role of NAM in Afghanistan
Considering Tehran's attention towards the security situation in Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, during its presidency over the Non-Aligned Movement, must attempt to find a more active role for this movement to play in Afghanistan’s security and economic future. Hosting the NAM Summit in Tehran and the beginning of Iran's three year presidency over this movement is an important political development which will certainly promote the status of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the international arena. The Non-Aligned Movement, which, after the UN, is the biggest and most populated political institution of the world, can and should, during Iran's presidency, play a more effective role in international relations and especially in solving or reducing global and regional crisis. Particularly in this era, when western countries, with US leadership and devices like NATO, bring their troops into countries which are thousands of kilometers away from their borders, the role of NAM with regard to universal peace becomes more obvious. Today, Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and even Pakistan are the scenes of overt and covert interventions of NATO forces and NAM can play a more effective role in controlling these events by relying on the great capacities of its members.
Meanwhile, this movement can certainly provide more opportunities for this country with regard to security, fighting against the smuggling of narcotics and terrorism, during Afghanistan transitional period from the existing situation to the desired situation, and compensate for NATO’s and its allies' unsuccessful measures to create stability in Afghanistan.
It seems that the main reason behind the necessity for NAM's attention towards Afghanistan is the serious concern of this movement over Afghanistan's unorderly security situation and it is clear that providing the security of the region will be directly linked to Afghanistan’s economic growth and development.
Another issue which makes attending to this matter important is the growth of narcotics production as a common global threat. The existing official statistics show that there are about one million Afghans who are drug addicts. On the other hand, the experience of recent years has proven that foreign countries have no motivation to fight against this problem, and the government of Afghanistan is not, by itself, able to contain and control the planting, production, and smuggling of these drugs. Therefore, control and containment of addiction and drugs in Afghanistan and the region needs regional and international widespread cooperation with the help of NAM members.
The development and stability of Afghanistan, due to its sensitive situation in the region and the world, is important, hence, the active presence of NAM in Afghanistan will undoubtedly provide unique opportunities for development and the strengthening of this country's economy and security in the region.
On this path, the issue of training Afghan forces can be a major part of common programs of NAM and Afghanistan. Due to Afghanistan's need for educated and effective people, the members of this movement should increase the number of educational scholarships to Afghans and arrange joint investments in transit, energy, mines, and trade sectors within the framework of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Therefore, if Afghanistan succeeds in attracting the support of NAM members for the establishment of security and stability and also economic development during Iran's presidency, it can take big steps on the path of reaching its people's goals, especially in freeing itself from the US and the West's domination. The reason is that all of its close neighbors, i.e., Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and also its far neighbors like Kazakhstan, India, Saudi Arabia, and Kirgizstan, are members of this movement and have necessary collaboration with the two regional powers, China and Russia.
Multilateral collaboration and cooperation of regional and extra-regional powers that will gather at the Tehran NAM Summit can reduce the region’s and the world's security concerns over the situation in Afghanistan. It is obvious that the Islamic Republic of Iran, which will be affected by the spread of insecurity in its eastern borders, should play its role in strengthening the presence of most non-aligned countries in Afghanistan.