The Unity Pipeline for Afghanistan

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The recognition that vast quantities of natural gas and oil lay untapped in Turkmenistan and neighboring central Asian states, has prompted a number of international gas and oil companies to compete for extraction and delivery of this gas and oil through a pipeline to markets in China, India and beyond.

The route that this central Asian pipeline should follow has been contested for years. Some companies have advocated and sought a northern path through Russia or alternatively an eastern route leading to the west of China; others, a route south through Pakistan to ports on the Arabian Sea.

When considering the southern route the fundamental problem here has been the lack of a sound regime in Afghanistan and instability as one travels from Kabul. Subsequently, a solid business plan to build the pipeline has not been created. .The current climate in Afghanistan is making the discussion of the future of the country of paramount importance. Building a post Taliban government where disparate ethnic groups come together is still an enormous task. Afghanistan has been at war for decades - transition to complete peace in the form of a stable government will not come easy and is still a work in progress. Coupled with this is the concern that western powers lack the credibility to help build stability in the region. The United Sates and her allies are perceived by many in the Middle East and Central Asia to be imperialist, and virtually any role which America and Britain play will be viewed with skepticism.

With the goal of fostering peace in central Asian and creating a better western role in the world the following plan is envisioned:

"The United States, Britain, NATO, and the UN will pay for with no fiscal encumberances, the majority of the cost of a pipeline through Afghanistan. This will be in the spirit of a Marshall Plan approach to Central Asia.
"Additional funding will be raised in the form of gifts by corporations, individuals,
other governments and institutions but must be given with no return obligations.

With preliminary financing in place, now proceeds the grand plan. It would seem logical that the most effective way to unify this diverse population and insure the security of the pipeline is to give each citizen of Afghanistan a direct, vested interested in the project's success. Each recorded, registered citizen with some form of address would be given shares in the pipeline corporation. These shares would pay a regular dividend from the profits of the corporation. Relative to the per capita Afghan income this could be significant.

There are side benefits to this project. A census will be created with locations for each citizen. It may be a simple as a GPS set of coordinates but it is a location. Expendable income will spur some economic growth. Access to remote areas will be developed as the pipeline is laid and removing landmines is done. And, hopefully, a sense of nationhood will develop.

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