KABUL – Afghanistan is once again the focus of the ‘Great Game,’ now in its21st-century iteration,” according to Dennis Etler, an American politicalanalyst who has a decades-long interest in international affairs.

“Afghanistan is once again the focus of the ‘Great Game,’ now in its21st-century iteration. The original ‘Great Game’ was a political anddiplomatic confrontation that existed for most of the 19th century betweenthe British Empire and the Russian Empire over Afghanistan and neighboringterritories in Central and South Asia,” Etler, a former professor ofAnthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, told Press TV onMonday.

“In the 20th century, the contention was transformed into a deadly rivalrybetween the Soviet Union and the US. Afghanistan, which had been a neutraland relatively stable nation throughout most of the 1900s, became embroiledin the Cold War when a pro-Soviet coup took place in 1978 with theestablishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),” he added.

“The policies of the DRA alienated traditionalists and opened the door forUS intervention in Afghanistan. The US opportunistically backed theformation of the mujahideen in its war against the new government and theirSoviet advisers. What resulted was a devastating decade’s long civil warthat set the stage for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the endof the Cold War, the victory of the Taliban and the creation of Al-Qaedaand other later terrorist spin-offs, including Daesh,” he stated.

On Sunday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper traveled to Afghanistan todetermine Washington’s “next steps” amid stalled peace talks with theTaliban militant group and escalating violence in the country.

“I’m looking … to get a really good feel for what’s happening on theground in Afghanistan, and to talk what the way ahead may look like aswell,” Esper told reporters traveling with him.

“We think a political agreement is always the best way forward with regardto next steps

Professor Etler said, “The US directly intervened in Afghanistan after the9/11 attacks which were alleged to have been launched from Afghanistan byAl-Qaeda, triggering the longest war in US history, which continues to thisday. The US has attempted to pacify the country and install US-backedgovernments, all to no avail. The Taliban resistance is estimated to nowcontrol over 60% of the country.”

“Domestic US disillusionment with a series of ‘endless wars’ in the MiddleEast and South Asia, has led to calls for US withdrawal from Afghanistan.It seems that all US politicians now call for some sort of disengagementfrom Afghanistan and other countries where the US has deployed troops inits ‘war against terrorism.’ That war has now taken a back-seat to a NewCold War directed against Russia and China. It is against that backdropthat the ‘Great Game’ has been revived in the 21st century. Now thecontenders are the US and its allies on one side and Russia and China onthe other, with a number of regional players on the sidelines,” he said.

“Most recently a trilateral coalition of Russia, India and China (RIC) hasentered the fray and begun negotiating with the Taliban to end the conflictin Afghanistan. The Taliban’s recent victories against the US-supportedAfghan army and the threat of gains by Russia and China in the region haveprompted the US to negotiate with the Taliban and finally reach a peaceagreement that would accommodate many of their demands, including thewithdrawal of all US forces,” he said.

“The ‘Great Game’ has therefore entered into a new phase of intensediplomatic jostling between the declining West and a rising East. Add tothis the intensifying rivalry between India and Pakistan over neighboringKashmir, and long-standing alliances between China and Pakistan, and Russiaand India, it can be seen that the situation in South Asia is wrought withboth dangers and opportunities,” he noted.

“The US, as the inheritor of the British imperialist project, is stillintent on maintaining its hegemony in all regions of the world. But asglobal power relations shift it has to come up with new tactics andstrategies to do so. This has led to a period of instability and chaos inUS foreign policy as it tries to come to grips with a new reality, itsoverall decline and China’s continued rise as a global power,” he said.

“The world can see that for all its rhetoric of ‘freedom and democracy’ theUS leaves only murder and destruction in its wake, while China brings peaceand development. The US, however, given the nature of its imperialistsystem, cannot extricate itself from the quagmires it finds itself enmeshedin,” the analyst said.

“It is imperative that the nations of the world finally come to therealization that they must settle their disputes amicably, betweenthemselves, without the interference of the US and its Western allies. Onlywhen the US and NATO are marginalized will the world have the opportunityto forge a better future for all humankind,” he concluded.