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U.N. Secretary-General Meets President of Afghanistan (MaximsNews Network)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with Hâmid Karzai, President of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan on 04 February 2009. UN Photo: 325477: Evan Schneider

FRIDE: IS THERE A BETTER STRATEGY FOR AFGHANISTAN? by David García Cantalapiedra: 15/06/2009 (MaximsNews Network)

        UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / - 15 June 2009 -- FRIDE, the European think tank for global action and international relations, has released a policy brief, "Is There a Better Strategy for Afghanistan?" by David García Cantalapiedra, that analyzes the approaches of the US President Barack Obama and the NATO allies at the Strasbourg-Kehl Summit in April.

With Afghanistan at a tipping point and stabilisation hanging in the balance, increased international commitment has been forthcoming for the August 2009 elections.

The strategy for Afghanistan which President Barack Obama presented in March – 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, according to the report.

The 2008 Bucharest Summit could have agreed on new contributions, above all from Europe and another year has been lost in Afghanistan’s stabilisation, states the report.

Neither the US’s counter-terrorist operation Enduring Freedom nor the European reconstruction strategy has so far proved effective it said.

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 according to the FRIDE report.

The author, Dr. David García Cantalapiedra, Departamento de Estudios Internacionales, Complutense University, Madrid, has just returned from a NATO sponsored trip to Afghanistan.  

Download the full version of this publication, available in English (200 kB)
Spanish (268 kB)

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