Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at SAIS Publishes Paper on U.S. Economic Strategy for Afghanistan

The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) at the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) has published a new paper about an economic strategy for Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan Beyond the Fog of National Building,” written by CACI chairman S. Frederick Starr, addresses the question of the United States’ urgently needed—but to now missing—economic strategy for Afghanistan. Starr proposes a strategy based on the opening of transport corridors within Afghanistan, between Afghanistan and its neighbors, and across Afghanistan from Europe, India and Southeast Asia. Calling on evidence from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other sources, the paper argues that such a strategy would benefit ordinary Afghans, produce a critically needed income stream for the government, reinforce the military effort and provide a fruitful alternative to opium production.

Such a “New Silk Road” strategy has been endorsed by key U.S. military leaders and has increasingly garnered support from other agencies of the U.S. government. It also has the strong support of international financial institutions as well as the Afghan government itself (which refers to this strategic doctrine as the “New Silk Road Initiative.”)

The paper concludes with the recommendation that the U.S. administration officially adopts this proposed strategy and establish the necessary inter-agency means for its systematic implementation. Starr writes that this process should be carried out in close consort with NATO partners and other donor countries and institutions, as well as with other countries in the region.

This paper is the next installment of the “Silk Road Paper Series,” published jointly by the CACI and the Silk Road Studies Program in Stockholm.

SAIS is one of the country’s leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. Located along Embassy Row in Washington’s Dupont Circle area, the school enrolls approximately 600 full-time graduate students and mid-career professionals and has trained more than 15,000 alumni in all aspects of international affairs. SAIS also has campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China.