The New York Times has an interesting interview with S. Frederick Starr, Professor and Chairman of John Hopkin’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute that provides more context for the recent announcement of the closure of the US base in Kyrgyzstan. He argues that the US was far too dependent on the base and the best route is through the still not entirely developed Pakistani port of Gwadar and from there, the road to Kandahar.
Most importantly, Starr emphasizes the need for the US to get Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries to invest in Afghanistan. Using concrete companies from Kyrgyzstan and construction crews from Azerbaijan, for example, would engage Afghanistan’s neighbors in its economic recovery. Instead, the US is using expensive Turkish firms, likely in order to continue to use them as a transport route to Iraq, which is yet another way that Iraq distracts the US from its work in Afghanistan.
