My CNAS colleague Iranga
Kahangama went to see former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad
speak at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
This is his report:
While the intended purpose was to
discuss what is at stake for the U.S. in Afghanistan, I found myself more
intrigued by the discussion of internal economic development in Afghanistan
that actually dominated the night.
Ambassador Khalilzad raised two key
economic points worth examining. First,
with all the talk of investing in small Afghan businesses and building the
economy through local entrepreneurs, we seem to have forgotten the behemoth
investment firm in Afghanistan that is the United States Military. Khalilzad stressed the importance of using
the military's purchasing power, and how procurement with an "Afghan first"
mentality could help build up an Afghan economy. He mentioned having to drink bottled water
from Dubai and eat German fruit while serving in Afghanistan, but these goods
were available in Afghanistan too, just not institutionalized. With over 30,000 more troops headed into the
country, the military can create not only major demand, but a demand
significantly financed through DOD's budget to stimulate the economy.
(Read on)
Secondly, he stressed the need for
wider diplomacy to facilitate Afghanistan into a better regional context. Specifically, the Ambassador stated multiple
times that it was possible to eventually see Afghanistan serve as a
land-bridge, connecting central Asia to south Asia. By developing trade routes, roads, and
railroads in Afghanistan, it can serve as a means for trading, and to exchange
south Asia's abundant raw materials with central Asian goods and services. By serving as a connecting hub for the
region, Afghanistan would lessen the outside threats it faced from its
neighbors, in addition to growing economically.
However, while these serve as great
take away points to consider, it is really the absence of action in these
arenas that should be most concerning. The event was truly symbolic of how the mindset of policymakers should
be working. The night started off with
an analysis of our military and national security strategies, but quickly moved
into a discussion about the internal political and economic development of
Afghanistan. The time has come to
entrust our military and its leaders, instead of endlessly debating timetables
and withdrawal dates. We as a society,
and as a polity, should be moving on to figure out the development and civilian
capacity needs of Afghanistan after our military succeeds. It may not be 1992
anymore, but guess what? It's still the economy, stupid!
MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images
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