The unfinished war in Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan is far from finished, according to a recent study of the situation on the ground, and the US aid establishment may be tackling the problem from some fundamentally unsound approaches.

The new study offers some immediate-term recommendations:

* Be realistic about how long it will take to rebuild Afghanistan: Decades, not years;

* Slow down the constitutional process for a centralized government – there hasn’t been enough debate among Afghans;

* Don’t undermine regional problem-solving in favor of idealistic, centralized solutions;

* Focus on rebuilding trust among Afghans and with the US – not on wasteful, high-profile ‘aid’ projects;

* Work closely with regional leaders who support US anti-narcotics and anti-terror efforts;

* Establish US consular offices in seven regions in addition to Kabul;

* Expand US military civil affairs teams in the regions, and provide them with tools to make a difference;

* Involve local Afghans more in reconstruction decision-making and contracting.

The study also offers long-term recommendations that challenge some of the fundamentals about how the US foreign aid establishment is approaching Afghanistan. For a .pdf copy of the 17-page paper, click here.