Dr. Evelyn Farkas urges new approach in Afghanistan
Our Senior Fellow and member of last week’s International Republican Institute’s election monitoring delegation, Dr. Evelyn Farkas, published a piece today in the Daily Beast on how to move beyond the Afghan elections and execute a new decentralized and dynamic approach to Afghanistan.
She writes:
The outcome of the Afghan elections may very well make the task for the international community in Afghanistan suddenly even harder than it appeared just a week ago, when there was already plenty of teeth-gnashing generated by the question of sending even more U.S. troops there. We need a legitimate government—and ideally a popular one—in order to make progress on achieving our objective: an Afghan government able to prevent its territory from being used as a safe haven by terrorists intent on attacking the United States.
Dr. Farkas expands on the idea by enumerating goals to achieve the objective writing,
As for the specific results, a credible Afghan government and vigorous international effort should aim to: 1) strengthen the National Assembly, or parliament of Afghanistan; 2) shift more focus on empowering local government, rather than the central government; 3) train Afghan security forces using special operations forces methods which demonstrate respect and are more likely to be accepted and effective; 4) vigorously prosecute the new counternarcotics strategy targeting drug kingpins, and hopefully laboratories; and 5) build partnerships with the business community to encourage their investment by mitigating their risk.
She also suggests a more decentralized approach that proposes a road ahead, even with a weak, unpopular central government, stating:
For too long the U.S. and international effort has focused on the central government, and specifically the presidency, exerting efforts that go against the historical grain of this decentralized country. It is especially important to right the balance of emphasis, if the elections yield a president that is not strong and legitimate in the eyes of a substantial segment of the Afghan population. The way to do this is to bolster the authorities and role of the Afghan National Assembly, and to work with local leaders who are not corrupt and genuinely interested in improving the security and prospects of their people.
Click here for the full article on the Daily Beast.
