Trade with and through Afghanistan will also be a hot topic and opportunity – Afghanistan is a central part of trade routes linking Europe, the Middle East and is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Meanwhile, the long-heralded Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan pipeline remains in the balance. Russia and China are key economic partners for the region and will be seen by some, including Kazakhstan who doesn’t share a border with Afghanistan, as the only ones who can help with a co-ordinated response and plan for the future of trade with the country. That response will undoubtedly use the security threat to broaden military presence for the required security that is needed to enable trade. But ultimately, as in the days of the Silk Road, it may only be trade, of the legitimate and structured kind, that can help Afghanistan to get out of its cycle of turmoil and regional partition. And freer, more transparent trade is something perhaps worth fighting hard for – the question now is whether that will
