The Afghanistan Papers
Watching the Frog Boil: Strategic Folly in the Afghan Security Sector
Over the last nine years, international approaches to the Afghan security sector have exhibited elements of security sector reform, counterinsurgency and stabilization. This paper, the ninth in the Afghanistan Papers series, argues that the practice of attempting all three approaches simultaneously has lead to confusion, and that, ultimately, the international intervention’s lack of strategic direction and focus has been detrimental to Afghanistan and its international partners.
The Triple Compact: Improving Accountability in State Building
The international mission to reconstruct Afghanistan may be the most ambitious state-building exercise ever undertaken. Among the least developed on Earth, the country has been the focus of tremendous international political will, copious development assistance and, at least since 2009, overwhelming military power. This paper proposes the establishment of a triple compact, involving the international community and the government of Afghanistan, the government and the people of Afghanistan, and the international community and the Afghan people.
Obama's War: Prospects for the Conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan
In the lastest CIGI Afghanistan Paper, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and former advisor to US Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton, describes the strategy that President Obama has implemented to combat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and discusses the al-Quaeda links behind recent terrorist plots.
Obama's New Af-Pak Strategy: Can "Clear, Hold, Build, Transfer" Work?
The sixth edition of CIGI's "Afghanistan Papers" evaluates the viability of the “clear, hold, build and transfer” approach in light of structural challenges and pressure to deliver results in a short time-frame amid difficult security conditions.
The Taliban Beyond the Pashtuns
Although the Taliban remain a largely Pashtun movement in terms of their composition, they have started making significant inroads among other ethnic groups. In the fifth edition of CIGI's "Afghanistan Papers," author Antonio Giustozzi says that emerging relationships between Taliban and non-Pashtun groups could "turn northern and western Afghanistan into a mess."
A Plan to Stabilize Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s problems are well known: rampant insecurity, endemic corruption, deep-seated poverty and weak governance. Unfortunately most of the strategies advanced to address these issues have lacked clear, effective and culturally-adapted implementation frameworks, making them more like wish lists than concrete roadmaps. Based on wide experience and engagement in Afghanistan’s state-building project since 2001 – in the United Nations, Afghan government, and civil society – the author provides a broad outline for a new strategy to stabilize Afghanistan. This new approach will not require massive new infusions of resources, but rather robust political will and resolve among both Afghans and international actors, something that is increasingly in short supply.
Ending the Agony: Seven Moves to Stabilize Afghanistan
In January, donors renewed commitments to Afghanistan and presented new strategies to combat the Taliban, improve governance and limit corruption. But progress will depend on Afghan leadership. This paper proposes seven policy initiatives to refocus the country's domestic reform agenda, overcome post-electoral distrust, and lay the groundwork for a rejuvenated partnership between the Afghan government and the international community.
Afghanistan’s Alternatives for Peace, Governance and Development: Transforming Subjects to Citizens & Rulers to Civil Servants
The policies of the United States and its international partners in Afghanistan during the past eight years have proven wrong-headed and ineffective in delivering the promised peace, stability and democratic governance. This paper critically examines the underlying assumptions behind these failing policies and explores alternative approaches to rescue Afghanistan’s war-to-peace transition.
Afghanistan: Looking Forward
In this first edition of CIGI’s Afghanistan Papers series, Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann acknowledges the flaws in the current strategies for Afghanistan’s transition and calls for a greater focus on implementation.