The purpose of the Future of Afghanistan Project is to create a strategic vision of Afghanistan's future. More than six years into the international intervention in Afghanistan, there is a sense of backsliding and loss of focus. Most assessments and prescriptions focus on the near term, analyzing what is happening now and what must happen over the next 12-18 months to "turn things around." At the same time, most commentators note that there is a broad lack of unified strategic vision between and among the Afghan government and their partners in the international community.
The Future of Afghanistan Project is bringing together leading thinkers and policymakers to address these gaps. A series of essays, speeches, and panels will assess the obstacles to achieving long-term objectives and discuss the policies, activities, and resources needed to accomplish them. This project aims to create realistic expectations of what is possible in Afghanistan over the next decade, while also serving as a unified conception for ongoing Afghan and international partnership. The Future of Afghanistan Project is directed by J Alexander Thier, a member of the Afghanistan Study Group and co-chair, with Barnett Rubin, of USIP's long-running Afghanistan Working Group.
Contributors to the Future of Afghanistan Project include:
- Barnett Rubin on state and international engagement with Afghanistan
- Ali Jalali on security institutions
- J Alexander Thier and Scott Worden on the rule of law
- Grant Kippen on democracy
- Nader Nadery on human rights and accountability in Afghanistan
- Amin Tarzi on media in Afghanistan
- Jolyon Leslie on culture
- Bill Maley on Afghanistan and its region
- Marvin Weinbaum on Afghanistan-Pakistan relations
- A Discussion with Ahmed Rashid
June 6, 2008
- Kick-starting the Virtuous Cycle? Security, Development, and Governance in Afghanistan
April 25, 2008 (Audio Available)
- Killing Friends, Making Enemies: The Impact and Avoidance of Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
March 10, 2008 (Audio Available)
- How We Missed the Story: Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and the Hijacking of Afghanistan
January 31, 2008
- Sanctuary? The Afghanistan-Pakistan Border and Insurgency in the 1980s, 90s, and Today
December 7, 2007 (Audio Available)
- A Dialogue with H.E. Abdul Salam Azimi, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan
November 29, 2007 (Audio Available)
- Democratic Transitions in South Asia: Prospects for Success in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal
November 6, 2007 (Audio Available)
- The Challenges of Economic Growth in Afghanistan
October 23, 2007 (Audio Available)
- Law and (dis)Order? The Challenges of Reforming the Afghan National Police
October 11, 2007
- Bridging Modernity and Tradition: Rule of Law and the Search for Justice in Afghanistan
September 28, 2007 (Audio Available)
- Hearts and Minds? Afghan Opinion on the Taliban, the Government and the International Forces
July 18, 2007
- Killing Friends, Making Enemies: The Impact and Avoidance of Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
USIPeace Briefing, July 2008
- Bridging Modernity and Tradition: Rule of Law and Search for Justice in Afghanistan
USIPeace Briefing, October 2007
- Troubles on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border
USIPeace Briefing, December 2006
- Briefing Paper: Conference on the Relationship between State and Non-State Justice Systems in Afghanistan
December 10-14, 2006 (PDF- 52KB)
- The Clash of Two Goods: State and Non-State Dispute Resolution in Afghanistan
Thomas Barfield, Neamat Nojumi, and J Alexander Thier, November 2006 (PDF- 544KB)
- Informal Dispute Resolution and the Formal Legal System
in Contemporary Northern Afghanistan
Thomas Barfield, April 21, 2006 (PDF- 579KB)
- Afghan Customary Law and Its Relationship to Formal Judicial Institutions
in Contemporary Northern Afghanistan
Thomas Barfield, June 26, 2003 (PDF- 287KB)
- Unfinished Business in Afghanistan: Warlordism, Reconstruction, and Ethnic Harmony
Special Report, April 2003
- The Taliban and Afghanistan: Implications for Regional Security and Options for International Action
Special Report, November 1998
