Transcript War on Drugs in Afghanistan

War on Drugs in
Afghanistan
Jessica Kenney
Krista Flynt
Krista Tuthill
Thesis
• The war on drugs in Afghanistan
undermines the war on terror.
Eradication of opium production and
trade destabilizes the country and
undermines alliances made to counter
terrorism.
Transnational Actors
• The United Nations
Office on Drugs and
Crime
• NATO
• The World Bank
• Afghanistan,
Russia, Britain, and
the United States
Afghanistan’s historical
transformation
• Cold War
– Soviet Invasion and
occupation, 19791989
– U.S. supports the
Mujaheddin, fighting
the Soviet troops
– Arms input and
financial support
– Environment for
drug trade
Afghanistan’s historical
transformation
• Pre-Soviet
economy
• US turns a blind
eye to illegal drug
trade
• Taliban regime,
1996-2001
• Contributors to
drug trade
Afghanistan’s dependence on
opium
YouTube video:
• Over half (53%) of
Afghanistan’s GDP
comes from the
opium trade. $4 bill.
in 2007
• It stabilizes
economy
• 78% of Afghanis are
rural farmers
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kwyoq6CrflQ
Why farmers grow poppy
• Quick return on investment
• Poppies require less water
• Poppy crop sells for 30x as much profit
as wheat
• Salaam credit system
• Land shortage
The case for eradication
programs
• Drug war is Taliban’s most effective recruiter
• Narco-economy may lead to the development
of an unstable narco-state with deep seated
public corruption
• Opium production provides the Taliban with
an estimated $30 to $100 million per year
• Drug trafficking is corrupting the country’s
government and infrastructure
US Government actions in
Afghanistan
• Unauthorized dumping
of herbicides over
Afghanistan opium
fields
• Plan Afghanistan
• Breakdown of funds
• Aerial eradication vs.
manual eradication
• Role of the US militaryor lack thereof
• Plan Afghanistan’s
progress today (and
looking into the future)
The case against eradication
programs
• President Karzai would lose
loyalty from regional
warlords
• Repressive approach to
eradication will result in a
loss of Afghani support for
their government
• Has caused revolts from
citizens involved in poppy
cultivation in the past
• Negative impacts of aerial
eradication
• Loss of industry would
devastate the economy
IR Theories
• Narco-terrorism
(and the subsequent
failure of a realist
approach)
• Realism: through
the eyes of Afghanis
vs. Americans
• Institutionalists:
Proposed methods
of development
Attempted solutions
• British crop substitution
– Expansion of the opium by farmers who pocketed
the money and continued to produce
• President Hamid Karzai enacted a reduction
policy against the opium poppy economy
– Provincial leader reaction
YouTube video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5UM8KxKaeSw
Solutions
•
•
Non-military approach to the war on drugs due to interdependence
Rebuilding of the infrastructure
– Supported crop substitutions
– Funding of alternate livelihoods for opium farmers
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Agriculture, irrigation and livestock
Rural enterprise development
Rural infrastructure
Local governance
Legalization of opium for medicinal use
Questions?
• “...to overcome both opium production and
terrorism in Afghanistan, the government and
the international community should focus less
on waging wars on drugs and terrorism and
more on implementing a broad program of
alternative and integrated development in the
whole country. Within this, a multi-level strategy
involving effective sanctions on illicit and
criminal activities is critical. Such a program
should be implemented in a progressive way so
as to secure sustainable political and territorial
stability. Long-lasting peace combined with
political as well as economic development must
be achieved if Afghanistan is to be successfully
rid of its illicit drugs economy-war economy
nexus” (Chouvy).
Works Cited
•
CIA https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html#People
•
Carpenter, Ted G. 2004. "How the Drug War in Afghanistan Undermines America’s War on Terror."
Washington D.C.: Cato Institute.
•
Koehler, Jan, and Christoph Zuercher. 2007. "Statebuilding, Conflict and Narcotics in Afghanistan: The
View from Below." International Peacekeeping 14 (1), 62-74.
•
New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/11/opinion/11ghani.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&oref=login
•
ReliefWeb http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/EGUA-78ZQLE?OpenDocument
•
Slate Magazine http://www.slate.com/id/2110987/
•
Terrorism Monitor http://www.pa-chouvy.org/terrorism-monitor-afghanistan-narcoterrorism.html
•
Transnational Institute: Drugs and Democracy
http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?page=policybriefings_brief10
•
US Department of State http://usinfo.state.gov/sa/Archive/2006/Jan/31-229671.html ;
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/rpt/90561.htm
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The World Bank http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/2235461202156192201/4638255-1202156207051/summaryAfghanistanOpium2008.pdf
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YouTube http://youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM&feature=related