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April 10, 2006
Council on Foreign Relations
April 10, 2006—“Afghanistan has received inadequate resources in terms of both troops and funds; this is not the time to draw down the military presence or to reduce aid,” warns a new Council on Foreign Relations Special Report. “The world thus far has put Afghanistan on life support, rather than investing in a cure….Afghanistan has the potential to be a disastrous situation if intelligent, measured steps are not taken.”
Stabilization and reconstruction operations in Afghanistan have been overshadowed by developments in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, says the report, Afghanistan’s Uncertain Transition From Turmoil to Normalcy, by Afghanistan expert and New York University Professor Barnett R. Rubin. “After years of claiming that greater American and Afghan casualties are either signs of ‘desperation’ by foundering terrorists or the result of more aggressive U.S. tactics that are pushing opposition fighters out of their safe havens, the U.S. government has now admitted that the insurgency is growing and becoming more effective,” states the report.
While there have been achievements in Afghanistan since 2001, including the December 2001 Bonn Agreement that gave Afghanistan a constitutional framework and nascent political institutions, much hard work remains before these institutions can be considered mature.
The January 2006 Afghanistan Compact, which provides a roadmap for security, governance, and development over the next five years, reminds international actors that Afghanistan’s transition to normalcy is not at all assured and that strong international engagement and U.S. support are required to address remaining challenges
Stability and security in Afghanistan remain elusive says the report. The report notes a long list of challenges including:
“The Afghanistan Compact provides many elements of a plan for sustainable security, governance, and development,” says Rubin, but “the compact places responsibility for meeting these goals on the government of Afghanistan, which can easily be held accountable, and the ‘international community,’ which cannot be.” Thus, “all stakeholders should fully fund and implement the Afghanistan Compact and the Interim Afghanistan National Development Strategy.”
Additional recommendations elaborate on the following themes:
Barnett R. Rubin is director of studies and senior fellow at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University. Rubin, founding director of the Council’s Center for Preventive Action, served as adviser to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, during the negotiations that produced the Bonn Agreement.
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