Narcotics Policy and Extremism

03/30/22 • 20 min

In this weeks episode we will analyse the United States policy towards counter narcotics in Afghanistan. Get ready to see just how powerful the illicit drug trade can be in undermining reconstruction efforts and funding extremism.
Sources:
“Afghanistan Opium Survey 2020 - United Nations Office on ...” Accessed April 23, 2022. https://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/20210503_Executive_summary_Opium_Survey_2020_SMALL.pdf.

“AOTP.” United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/aotp.html.

Felbab-Brown, Vanda. “Drugs, Security, and Counternarcotics Policies in Afghanistan.” Brookings. Brookings, March 9, 2022. https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/drugs-security-and-counternarcotics-policies-in-afghanistan/.

Felbab-Brown, Vanda. “High and Low Politics in Afghanistan: The Terrorism-Drugs Nexus and What Can Be Done about It.” Brookings. Brookings, July 28, 2016. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/high-and-low-politics-in-afghanistan-the-terrorism-drugs-nexus-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/.

Felbab-Brown, Vanda. “Pipe Dreams: The Taliban and Drugs from the 1990s into Its New Regime.” Brookings. Brookings, March 9, 2022. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/pipe-dreams-the-taliban-and-drugs-from-the-1990s-into-its-new-regime/.

“How Opium Profits the Taliban - United States Institute of Peace,” August 2009. https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/taliban_opium_1.pdf.
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan, and John F Sopko. “What We Need to Learn: Lessons from Twenty Years of Afghanistan Reconstruction.” Sigar 21-46-LL , August 2021. https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-21-46-LL.pdf.
Sopko, John F, and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. “Sigar 16-58-LL Corruption in Conflict: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan,” September 2016. https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-16-58-LL.pdf.

Team, Reality Check. “Afghanistan: How Much Opium Is Produced and What's the Taliban's Record?” BBC News. BBC, August 25, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58308494.

“AOTP.” United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/aotp.html.

Team, Reality Check. “Afghanistan: How Much Opium Is Produced and What's the Taliban's Record?” BBC News. BBC, August 25, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58308494.

Previous Episode

The Electoral Process

In this episode I will discussing Afghanistans electoral process. We will go in depth into the formation of the constitution and analyse the structures it created.
Sources:
“The Afghan Government Was Undone by Its Own Corruption.” The Economist. The Economist Newspaper. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/08/26/the-afghan-government-was-undone-by-its-own-corruption.

“Afghanistan 2004 Constitution.” Constitute. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_2004.

“Afghanistan: Anatomy of an Election Disaster.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, October 19, 2009. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/20/afghanistan-election.

“Afghanistan's Constitution of 1964 - Constituteproject.org.” Accessed April 23, 2022. https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_1964.pdf?lang=en.

“America Enabled Afghanistan's Corruption for Years. the Taliban Knew It.” NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, August 22, 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/america-enabled-afghanistan-s-corruption-years-taliban-knew-it-ncna1277327.

“Constitutional History of Afghanistan.” ConstitutionNet, September 24, 2021. https://constitutionnet.org/country/afghanistan.

“Election Fraud and Government Legitimacy in Afghanistan: The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.” The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Accessed April 22, 2022. https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/election-fraud-and-government-legitimacy-afghanistan.

Faiez, Rahim. “Fraud, Misconduct Threaten Afghan Presidential Election.” AP NEWS. Associated Press, September 28, 2019. https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-elections-international-news-afghanistan-election-2020-2e5b77dbe5ac41198e9c33c86184d9f3.

Felbab-Brown, Vanda. “The 2009 Afghanistan Elections and the Future of Governance.” Brookings. Brookings, July 28, 2016. https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-2009-afghanistan-elections-and-the-future-of-governance/.

Gall, Carlotta. “Election of Karzai Is Declared Official.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 4, 2004. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/04/world/asia/election-of-karzai-is-declared-official.html.

“Lessons.” Corruption in Conflict. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://www.sigar.mil/interactive-reports/corruption-in-conflict/lessons.html.

“The Making of a Constitution in Afghanistan - New York Law ...” Accessed April 23, 2022. https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1372&context=nyls_law_review.

National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041008-6.html.

Nordland, Rod. “Afghan Presidential Rivals Finally Agree on Power-Sharing Deal.” The New York Times. The New York Times, September 20, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/world/asia/afghan-presidential-election.html.

“Recent Patterns and Trends - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,” 2012. https://www.unodc.org/documents/lpo-brazil//Topics_corruption/Publicacoes/Corruption_in_Afghanistan_FINAL.pdf.

“A Survey of the Afghan Parliament.” USAID . Democracy International. Accessed April 23, 2022. https://data.globalchange.gov/file/01e24f63-1c55-4a26-abb3-5d81de4d2d11.thtml.

Tavernise, Sabrina, and Abdul Waheed Wafa. “U.N. Official Acknowledges 'Widespread Fraud' in Afghan Election.” The New York Times. The New York Times, October 11, 2009. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/world/asia/12afghan.html.
WALDMAN, MATT. “System Failure: The Underlying Causes of US Policy-Making Errors in Afghanistan.” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs

Next Episode

Interview with Dr. Paul D. Miller

Dr. Paul D. Miller is a professor at Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service and previously served as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Army as well as an Intelligence Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency. Join Dr. Miller and myself for a fascinating conversation about the American involvement in Afghanistan.