Waching daily Mar 16 2017

Russia, Pakistan and China joining forces to eradicate terrorists from Afghanistan would not only allow the Troika (Rus-Pak-Chi) to prevent Afghan terrorism from spilling into their borders, but also peel off the United States superpower status in the process.

As Moscow, Islamabad and Beijing seem to be opening a new, trilateral chapter in their Central and South Asia policies, Afghanistan is becoming the main focus of the Troika and the rest of the world.

After ISIS claimed responsibility for killing at least 30 people and injured 50 more others in a brutal March 8 terrorist attack on Sardar Daud military hospital in Kabul, there's now no denial that Afghanistan is spiraling out of control.

While the U.S. has made numerous attempts to fight terrorism in the region, it has failed to eradicate at least half of all the terrorist groups operating on Afghan soil. In fact, General John Nicholson, top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, revealed last December that 20 out of 98 U.S.-designated terrorist groups globally are operating in Afghanistan – the highest concentration of terrorist elements anywhere in the world.

While there are more and more reports of Chinese presence in Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia seem equally hell-bent on eradicating terrorism from Afghanistan. Last month, Pakistan launched a nation-wide anti-terrorism operation and attacked terrorists hiding across the border in Afghanistan following a string of terrorist attacks all over Pakistan that killed nearly 150 people.

Russia, for its part, has been an active driving force in regional talks on terrorism and Afghanistan issues. On February 15, Moscow hosted six-nation talks with Pakistan, China, Iran, India and Afghanistan. Prior to this six-nation discussion, Russia had only invited Pakistan and China to discuss the regional terrorism in trilateral talks, thus totally ignoring the US.

During the presidential term of Barack Obama, Washington decided to start withdrawing its troops from the Middle East and Afghanistan. Besides, Obama showed lack of interest in maintaining U.S. influence in the region, as he refused to intervene in Syria, which resulted in Russia taking the Syrian issue under its control.

On top of intervening in Syria, Moscow has also sought improved relations with key players in the region: Iraq, Iran, Israel, Egypt and even the Gulf States. In the South Asia, meanwhile, Russia has strengthened relations with Pakistan and hasn't lost India's friendship in the process.

Spreading its influence in the Middle East – starting from Syria and Afghanistan – would allow Russia to eventually replace the U.S. in its role of the key foreign player in the region. One can argue that the U.S. giving up Afghanistan so easily would result in inevitable shrinking of U.S. influence in the region and even losing its status as the sole global superpower.

China, which – especially during the presidency of Trump – views the U.S. as its rival and wants to bring down U.S. global dominance, would certainly be on board with Russia to gain a solid foothold in the region. Pakistan, which has numerous grievances with Washington (America's growing friendship with India for one), is equally interested in joining Russia and China efforts and forming the Troika.