"The Bonn Conference: Pakistan - the “Spectre at the Feast”"

Dr. Emma Hooper,
Senior Research Fellow associate, CIDOB

12 December 2011 / Opinión CIDOB, nº 135 / E-ISSN 2014-0843

The non-appearance of Pakistani representatives at the December 5 2011 Bonn Conference on Afghanistan is an attempt by Pakistan to send a clear message that “enough is enough”, and that the country will not tolerate being messed around with any further. Or so its ruling government would have the world think. In reality, Pakistan has probably cut off its nose to spite its face. By not appearing in Bonn, the country has lost a valuable opportunity to state its case to the world, reaffirm its stance in support of the (continued) war on terror post-Bin Laden, and - importantly for its own foreign policy and security preoccupations - to counterbalance India’s growing influence and presence in Afghanistan.

Lack of trust between the main protagonists – Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US - is clearly a critical issue. What is evident, though, is that the stakes are too high, and there is too much to lose, by indulging what could be seen as a petulant gesture. Afghanistan is too important for the security of both Pakistan and the region as a whole, for one of the key players to be absent from an event discussing how to resolve the continued conflict, ten years on from Bonn 1.
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