WASHINGTON: The US State Department has named three top officials to oversee various facets of its policy, marking a major reorganization of the department’s diplomatic approach towards Afghanistan. The move replaces the sole job formerly held by Thomas West, the outgoing US Special Representative for Afghanistan.
The new arrangement is a reflection of the Biden administration’s enduring commitment to Afghanistan, particularly in view of the security issues that remain in the wake of the Taliban’s comeback.
Former chief of US diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan, Thomas West, will now lead the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination.
Special Envoy Rina Amiri, Ambassador John Mark Pommersheim, and Karen Decker will share his duties, with each one in charge of a different aspect of US policy in the area.
Karen Decker, a seasoned Foreign Service officer, will lead diplomacy from Doha. She oversaw the resettling of Afghan refugees in the US while serving as the director of operations in Afghanistan from August 2022 to December 2021. She was the US Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul before that.
Rina Amiri will stay on as Special Envoy, advocating for human rights, particularly those of Afghan women and girls. Ambassador Pommersheim, a career diplomat who previously held the position of US Ambassador to Tajikistan, will be in charge of developing US policy on Afghanistan and coordinating efforts across agencies in Washington.
With more than 20 years of experience working in conflict environments in the Middle East, West Africa, and Central Asia, Ms. Amiri is an expert in inclusion in mediation processes, peacekeeping, and security.
The National Defense University’s Hassan Abbas explained the developments as a sign of Washington’s resolve to continue its involvement in Afghanistan even if the nation has turned into a hotbed of terrorism. Abbas emphasized that the US continues to have serious concerns about the emergence of terrorist organizations such as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which attacks neighboring countries like Pakistan from Afghan territory.
Speaking anonymously, a US source concurred, stating that Washington is very concerned about the rise of cross-border terrorism from organizations like the TTP as it tries to strike a balance between diplomacy and the region’s security issues.
Abbas thinks there won’t be a significant change in Afghan policy until the new administration takes office in January 2025, despite the US taking a different lead in the region. Additionally, he foresaw a somewhat more assertive approach to dealing with the Taliban under the next administration. “This change is likely to make the US position regarding engagement with the Taliban less flexible,” he said.
In response to a question concerning the potential effects of this restructure on Pakistan, Abbas stated that any meaningful influence might be limited by Pakistan’s direct interaction with the Taliban. He did concede, though, that Pakistan’s demands for US assistance in combating the TTP had not yet produced noticeable outcomes.
Abbas continued, “The US is more concerned about ISIS-KP at this time, and US-Pakistan relations are not in great shape,” implying that better collaboration would materialize during the US presidential election of the following year.
The Wilson Center’s director of South Asia, Michael Kugelman, saw the reorganization as an indication that US interest in Afghanistan was declining. “Over the last three years, US policy focus on Afghanistan has changed and, quite frankly, receded,” he added, expressing his regret at the decision.
Kugelman pointed out that the State Department has taken the lead in most of the US’s post-withdrawal involvement in Afghanistan, thus eliminating the top position in charge of policy oversight is a big change.
The official US stance, on the other hand, is that the reorganization will enable the government to safeguard US national interests and assist the Afghan people while simultaneously addressing the changing political and humanitarian issues Afghanistan faces under Taliban leadership.
