Archive / Policy Brief
Is there a better strategy for Afghanistan?
19/05/2009 By David García Cantalapiedra
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| Loeb/AFP/Getty Images |
Afghanistan is approaching a tipping point. Its stabilisation hangs in the balance. Increased international commitment has been forthcoming for the August 2009 elections.
The strategy for Afghanistan which President Barack Obama presented inMarch – and which was accepted by the allies at NATO’s Strasbourg- Kehl Summit in April – amounts to a step-change. However, it comes a year too late. The 2008 Bucharest Summit could have agreed new contributions, above all from Europe. Another year has been lost in Afghanistan’s stabilisation.
Neither the US’s counter-terrorist operation Enduring Freedom nor the European reconstruction strategy has so far proved effective. The approval of Obama’s new Comprehensive Approach in Bucharest offered the first framework that brings together political, economic, social and military aspects. In this regard, the EU has missed out on the chance to position itself as a key player in this conflict.
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Keywords
Afghanistan Al Qaeda Asia Civil society Conflict Democratic control European Union Terrorism United States USRelated publications
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Bio author: David García Cantalapiedra
David García Cantalapiedra, Departamento de Estudios Internacionales, Complutense University, Madrid. Dr Cantalapiedra has just returned from a NATO sponsored trip to Afghanistan.
