The Future of Afghanistan Project was launched in 2008 by the United States Institute of Peace in response to the need for a unified, strategic, long-term vision for Afghanistan. More than seven years into the international intervention in Afghanistan, there is a sense of backsliding and a loss of focus. Most assessments and prescriptions focus on the near term, analyzing what is happening now and what must happen over the next twelve to eighteen 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 purpose of the Future of Afghanistan project is to create a strategic vision of where Afghanistan could be in ten years, outlining the obstacles to achieving the long-term objectives and the policies, activities, and resources needed to accomplish them. 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 in Afghanistan and examine 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 unifying framework for ongoing Afghan and international partnership.
The Future of Afghanistan Project is directed by J Alexander Thier, a member of the Afghanistan Study Group, the Pakistan Policy Working Group, and co-chair of USIP's long-running Afghanistan Working Group.
In January 2009, the project launched a new book of essays from the USIP Press entitled "The Future Of Afghanistan." The volume identifies weaknesses of early approaches and outlines a vision for success going forward.
- Securing Afghanistan: Challenge for the Next Administration
November 6, 2008 (Audio Available)
- The Future of Governance in Afghanistan: A Roundtable Discussion with Jelani Popal
October 3, 2008 (Audio Available)
- A Discussion with Major General Mart de Kruif
September 25, 2008
- A Discussion with Robert de Groot, Deputy Political Director of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
September 10, 2008
- His Excellency, Dr. Abdul Jabbar Sabit, Attorney General of Afghanistan
June 6, 2008 (Audio Available)
- A Discussion with His Excellency Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, Former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to Afghanistan
June 20, 2008
- A Discussion with Ahmed Rashid
June 24, 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
- Building Local Conflict Resolution Capacity in Afghanistan
In the Field, September 2008
- Thwarting Afghanistan’s Insurgency: A Pragmatic Approach toward Peace and Reconciliation
Special Report, September 2008 (PDF - 475KB)
- Killing Friends, Making Enemies: The Impact and Avoidance of Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
USIPeace Briefing, July 2008
- Afghanistan: Not Lost, But Needs More Attention
USIPeace Briefing, June 2008
- Bridging Modernity and Tradition: Rule of Law and Search for Justice in Afghanistan
USIPeace Briefing, October 2007
- Afghanistan/ Pakistan
On the Issues, January 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
