by Carol Wang ’07

The Woodrow Wilson School is well known for blending the worlds of academia and policymaking, and for providing students opportunities to learn from policymakers themselves. The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) did this when it convened the colloquium, “State, Security, and Economy in Afghanistan: Current Challenges, Possible Solutions,” in Brussels, Belgium, on November 16-18, 2007. LISD Director Wolfgang Danspeckgruber chaired the conference, and H.S.H. Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein delivered the opening address. The objective of the conference was to have in-depth discussion on critical issues facing Afghanistan, by bringing in Afghan perspectives to emphasize that any successful state-building effort would put Afghans themselves in the stewardship positions. In addition, the conference launched the second volume in the LISD-WWS Study Series on Building State and Security in Afghanistan. The Brussels conference was part of a broader LISD research project on Afghanistan and the region, funded in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Over 70 senior policymakers, academics, representatives of NGOs, and representatives from NATO, the EU, and the UN participated. Afghan participants included Mohammad Karim Khalili, Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Fawzia Koofi, Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of the Afghan National Assembly; M. Masoom Stanekzai, advisor to the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Daoud Sultanzoy, member of the Afghan National Assembly from Ghazni Province; Homayoun Tandar, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Belgium; Ambassador Zahir Tanin, permanent representative of Afghanistan to the UN; and Faizullah Zaki, member of the Afghan National Assembly from Jowzjan Province. Other high-level officials included General Karl Eikenberry, Deputy Chair of the NATO Military Political Committee; Peter Feith, Deputy Director General of the EU Council Secretariat; James Moran, Asia Director of the European Commission; Francesc Vendrell, EU Special Representative for Afghanistan; Ambassador Christopher Alexander, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan; and Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

During the three days of intensive discussions, conference participants analyzed Afghanistan’s internal and external security; Afghanistan’s relations with Pakistan, Iran, and the states of Central Asia; counter-narcotics strategies; and the role of the international community in stabilizing and developing the country. In addition, given the reality of flagging support within the EU and the wider international community for a continued active presence in Afghanistan, the conference held special relevance by convening in Brussels, the capital of Europe. In doing so, observed Kayvon Tehranian ’08, the LISD-sponsored event put WWS “at the center of one of the most important policy debates in Europe.”

Tehranian was one of the 20-student team that assisted with the organization and administration of the conference. Other members of the student team included undergraduates Cole Bunzel ’08, Elizabeth Horner ’08, and Daniel Nikbakht ’10; second-year M.P.A. students Nima Abbaszadeh, Jon Gandomi, George Hodgson, Jonathan Kaufman, and Taya Weiss; and M.P.P. candidates Richard Atwood and Leanne Smith, both of whom came to WWS with extensive work experience in Afghanistan. On the second day of the conference, Atwood participated in the discussion on electoral reform with a key presentation based on his recent Afghanistan visits, and membership in the management team that organized the Afghan parliamentary elections in 2005. Leanne Smith presented her interpretation of human rights and rights for women stemming from her work as a lawyer and diplomat in Afghanistan.

Despite the large participation and the diversity of opinions presented at the conference, several points of agreement still managed to emerge. Most participants concurred that Afghanistan is now at the crucial point in its state-building development, and felt that the process could “go either way.” Participants likewise agreed that the next steps forward must focus on “Afghan ownership of projects” and on building Afghan capabilities and capacity. Discussants stressed the need for more coherence within and between existing programs in Afghanistan but warned also of possible internal political rivalries. They agreed that a sustained international engagement is especially urgent now as perceptions within Afghanistan are that the international community is losing interest and that aid will be increasingly unreliable.

Danspeckgruber was positive about the outcomes of the conference. “The success of the conference was largely due to the caliber and experience of the participants and their readiness to engage in candid and honest exchange, both from the perspective of our Afghan friends and from the ‘expats’ who live in Afghanistan, but also from the EU and NATO experts. I believe we were able to generate sensible and practical solutions for concrete and feasible next steps in Afghanistan, particularly in micro-economics, training and education, and inner-Afghan consensus building.”

A report of policy recommendations that emerged from the conference is available (will open a PDF).