A "New" Strategy for Afghanistan and Its Region

Abstract

The report assesses the strategy of the Obama Administration as stated in early 2009 toward Afghanistan and provides recommendations for Afghanistan and its region. This strategy resembles a strategic framework more than a specific strategy. This framework for policy toward Afghanistan has been expanded to include a combined focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan, what is sometime referred to as “Af-Pak;” a surge of international civilian advisers and military forces and a major increase of civilian personnel, planning for a more rapid transfer of responsibility for security to the Afghan government; and an increased engagement with international actors, including neighboring and other regional states. The report's recommendations focus specifically on regional cooperation, the drugs-insurgency-corruption nexus, the Taliban insurgency, reconciliation, income generation, infrastructure and energy, institutional capacity, and the roles of the UN and of the media. The recommendations are a result of a private workshop convened by the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination in May 2009.