The Russian Federation towards the Afghan problem in the period 2014–2021

Abstract

The internal situation in Afghanistan has been an extremely important point of reference for Russian foreign policy in the 21st century. Russia has been closely monitoring everything that is taking place in this country for many years, because the processes taking place in Afghanistan have a strong impact on the Central Asian region, and this, by the authorities, in the Kremlin, is considered its own sphere of influence. For the purposes of this article, a research hypothesis was created, assuming that for Moscow, the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan is an opportunity to increase its influence in this region of Asia, because since 2014 Russia has consistently pursued a policy of supporting this extremist group. The article uses the institutional and legal method (in defining the Afghan problem in the strategic document, the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation of 2016), as well as the decision-making method (in characterizing the actions taken by the Russian authorities against the Taliban in the period 2014–2021).