Building State and Security in Afghanistan and the Region

Abstract

This report compiles materials related to the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination’s project, “Promoting Stability and Viability in Afghanistan and the Region,” which began in 2001 and ran through summer 2005, and considered the future of Afghanistan and the region as the country moved out of immediate post-conflict transition and began working toward the goal of being a secure and politically and economically viable state among its neighbors. Issues considered included infrastructure and economy, energy and natural resources, “hard” and “soft” security, a range of regional challenges including environmental and health stresses, human trafficking, and the narcotics trade, as well as the international order, the US-led “global war on terror,” and the influence of external challenges on the prospects for and parameters of Afghanistan’s development.