Afghanistan in Transition
نویسندگان
چکیده
I December 2010, President Obama issued his review of the US strategy in Afghanistan following the significant increase in military forces and a renewed counterinsurgency effort. Nearly a year ago, the US Commander in Chief decided to send an additional 30,000 US forces to Afghanistan as part of a strategy to reverse the Taliban’s momentum and build the Afghan government’s capacity, allowing the United States to begin drawing down its forces in July 2011.1 The ensuing military surge, which raised the level of the US-led International Security Assistant Force (ISAF) to over 140,000 (including 100,000 US service members), and a new population-centered stabilization strategy may be the first serious counterinsurgency effort in the nine-year war. During the past nine years, poorly resourced and ill-coordinated state building and stabilization efforts failed to check the growing insecurity and violence that peaked this year at the highest level since the removal of the Taliban from power in 2001. The ever-increasing complexity of the strategic and operational environment has perplexed the Afghan government and contributing nations and stymied the development of any unified, long-term vision for the nation and its people. All parties have approached the emerging issues in divergent, uncoordinated ways, with operations on every front being fragmented reactions to events rather than strategic undertakings designed to support long-term goals. An American warrior of the Vietnam War famously once said that America had not been fighting the war in Vietnam for 12 years, but for one year 12 times.2 The same can be said in Afghanistan today where the international forces have fought nine, one-year wars. The December review came amid growing doubts over a war that has dragged on for almost a decade with no clear prospects for winning. The extension of Taliban influence into once stable areas in the West and North of the country, rising casualties among US-NATO forces and Afghan civilians, the weakening of Afghan government control, and waivering belief in President Karzai’s commitment to eliminate official corruption and improve
منابع مشابه
Khaf-Herat-China railway, a transition opportunity to geo-economic situation
Aims And Backgrounds Of This research is to investigate and analysis how the international rail network is being developed and expanded from Iran to Afghanistan and China, either directly or through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which can facilitate transport and cultural links with Europe and the Western world. Construction of a railway from Khawaf in eastern Iran to Herat, Afghanistan, and the c...
متن کاملAfghanistan: Regaining Momentum
On the sixth anniversary of the US-led military invasion, Afghanistan is faced with its worst crisis since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. There are increasing concerns, both internationally and domestically, that Afghanistan faces the distinct possibility of sliding back into instability and chaos. The country is challenged by a revitalized Taliban-led insurgency, record rise in drug produc...
متن کاملAfghanistan And Chechnya: Low Intensity Preludes To Another Revolution CSC 1997 Subject Area – Topical Issues EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Title: Afghanistan And Chechnya: Low Intensity Preludes To Another Revolution Author: Major
Discussion: This paper explores the impact of the LIC experiences in Afghanistan and Chechnya on the transformation of the Russian State. It begins with a historical review that analyzes invasion motives and the subsequent impact on the people, the government and the Russian military. The analysis of the recent post-Soviet era reveals that the Russian transformation consists of three smaller tr...
متن کاملComplex Interplay of Variables in Transition-Period Afghanistan and Need for a Balanced Approach
متن کامل
Afghanistan’s post-Taliban transition: the state of state-building after war
Is Afghanistan approaching unheralded success or tragic failure? It depends upon whom one asks. Several years after an international coalition and US-backed Afghan insurgents removed the ruling Islamic fundamentalist Taliban from power, experts differ as to Afghanistan’s future: will it be stability and democracy, or a return to its chaotic and turbulent past? On the one hand, after decades of ...
متن کاملBuilding a New Agricultural Research and Extension System in Afghanistan: Initial Thoughts
Introduction Agricultural development is critical to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Central to rebuilding the agriculture sector is the need for an effective agriculture research and extension system. Throughout the world, and in Afghanistan, agriculture research and extension is in transition – influenced by trends toward reduced government intervention in the economy, growth of the privat...
متن کامل