Quora Answer: Should Afghanistan Join the Eurasian Economic Union?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Should Afghanistan join the Eurasian Economic Union?”

Afghanistan is a failed state.  They do not even have a settled government.  They are not in any condition to participate in any regional or international groups, let alone join new ones.  The current government is struggling to gain international recognition, and their funds in foreign banks are frozen.  They need to sort those issues out, and iron out how they are going to rule in the face of a possible insurgency first. 

The Eurasian Economic Union is an economic union of former Soviet republics.  Afghanistan was never a Soviet republic.  The USSR did invade Afghanistan, overthrowing the rightful government, in December 1979.  Afghanistan joining the union would have political baggage, and the optics would not reflect on any Afghan government.  The idea is a non-starter.  A settled Afghan government would more likely look to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where they already have observer status.