Afghanistan: Europe’s Forgotten War

Daniel Korski argues that the international coalition should overhaul their Afghanistan strategy and strike a ‘grand bargain’ to stabilise the war-torn country

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Ahead of the appointment of a new UN envoy for Afghanistan, the authors of this report call on EU and US governments to overhaul their strategies and strike a 'grand bargain' to stabilise the country. In particular, they urge EU governments to deploy more troops in Afghanistan, to relax restrictions (caveats) on their troops, and to reverse the decline in development aid. In exchange, the US should accept a shift from a strategy based on combat operations to one focused on overall political impact, and the protection of ordinary civilians across the country. It should also abandon its failed counter-narcotics strategy.

The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors.

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