Consensus is mounting: Conditions in Afghanistan have reached a critical tipping point. The Obama administration recognizes the gravity of the situation and is expected to unveil its new strategy for Afghanistan in the upcoming weeks. But how can the administration best confront this crisis?
The answer: By creating sustainable security in the region through quickly and efficiently retooling foreign assistance programs in the coming months and years.
The Center for American Progress issued a new report this week, "Swords and Ploughshares: Sustainable Security in Afghanistan Requires Sweeping U.S. Policy Overhaul" by Reuben E. Brigety II, Director of CAP’s Sustainable Security Program. The report issued the results of a three-day simulation CAP conducted to explore how the United States might best achieve stability in crisis-ridden countries through various foreign assistance reforms.
One of the most essential lessons learned from CAP’s simulation:
"If the United States is to be effective conducting stabilization and reconstruction operations in fragile states such as Afghanistan and beyond, then robust foreign assistance reform is urgently required."
CAP found that solutions for Afghanistan must go beyond the scope of military force to address much-needed development on the local level. If we can improve the lives of those living in conflict zones we can set a crucial precedent for others in the region. Development and stability successes can then serve as examples, presenting an appealing alternative to those living in perpetual conflict.
Areas needing attention include Afghanistan’s drug trade and its education systems. Over half of Afghanistan’s GDP is from the illicit farming of poppies for the opium trade. This makes agriculture an especially important area for the creation of new programs. Education is crucial both because it provides the youth with an alternative to engaging in violent combat and because it makes a significant investment in the country’s future.
The challenges in war-torn regions are enormous and the United States and its allies need to hire enough development professionals to put them everywhere they are needed. At the same time, it will be vital for the United States to focus on supporting development programs that would enable local Afghans to generate their own economic opportunities and social services. These types of programs will be far more sustainable in the long run than anything imposed on the region and managed by a foreign nation.
It is clear that the defense-based policies of the past eight years are not working. We therefore need a more creative and multilateral approach. If a sustainable security model proved to be effective in Afghanistan it could serve as an important and useful rubric for addressing other areas of conflict.