Events Detail

The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) and the Hudson Institute Center for Political-Military Analysis is pleased to invite you to a Roundtable on Interagency Reform discussing a case study on "The Counternarcotics Effort in Afghanistan" by Matthew Korade, deputy editor for national security news at Congressional Quarterly and former legislative fellow for defense policy in the office of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009; 2:30 – 4:00 PM

Please RSVP (affirmative replies only) by sending your name and current institutional affiliation to Richard Weitz at Weitz@hudson.org .

Location: Hudson Institute, Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center, 1015 15th Street, N.W., 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005

With roots that predate the Soviet-Afghan War, Afghanistan's opium trade has exploded into a multi-billion-dollar industry that encircles the globe. The country in recent years has produced nearly 90 percent of the world's opium supply, driving the doubling of global production in the last several years. Now, as terrorists, insurgents, criminals, and corrupt government officials collude for mutual gain under opium's ruinous influence, the international community finds itself in a race against time to destroy the drug trade before it transforms Afghanistan into a full-fledged the world's biggest narco-state. However, neither the White House nor the Congress has developed a plan of the size and scope needed to move the country toward a stable, democratic future. This case study reviews the failures of U.S. and allied policy and processes that have allowed the present situation to develop and given strength to the diverse destabilizing elements in Afghanistan, hindering its reconstruction and the rule of law.

The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) is a non-partisan initiative that seeks to improve the U.S. Government's ability to integrate all elements of national power and more effectively respond to the strategic challenges of the 21st century.  The PNSR case studies inform the other analytic work of PNSR by highlighting recurring trends in how the U.S. national security system addresses complex national security problems.

Attendees at PNSR workshops may use the information as background, but may not identify the speaker, the other attendees, or PNSR itself or quote anything said at the event.

We hope that you can attend.

Richard Weitz, Ph.D., Head

Case Studies Working Group

Project on National Security Reform