International Institute for Strategic Studies Afghanistan Security

The International Institute for Strategic Studies

Friday 12 March 2010

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Afghanistan Security

Research - Policy Themes

Research - Regional Security

Contact Us

For further information on the Afghanistan Security Programme, please contact Virginia Comolli.

For press and media enquiries please contact the Media and Events Team

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London Conference 2010: IISS assessment

IISS Special Briefing - 'Assessing the Outcome of the London Conference'

The final communique from the Afghanistan: The
London Conference
on 28 January 2010 welcomed a shift to local control of Afghan security. However President Hamid Karzai had earlier indicated that international forces may be needed in the country for another 15-20 years.

What do IISS experts believe? Watch the Briefing

Go to Afghanistan: The London Conference.

UK government promotes 'Afghanisation'

Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth MP, Secretary of State for Defence, the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP and Dr John Chipman, Director General and CEO, IISS

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown defended the international coalition's objectives and strategy in a keynote speech at IISS headquarters in London in early September 2009. Broadcast live by the BBC, the PM's address also laid out plans to help the country police itself - with what he termed a greater 'Afghanisation' of efforts to bring national stability.

Watch or listen to the prime minister's speech.

Other government ministers to have spoken on Afghanistan at the IISS include:

Then-defence minister John Hutton

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander.

Obama's war in Afghanistan

A recent IISS Strategic Comment asks if the dispatch of an extra 30,000 US troops, as announced by President Barack Obama in late 2009, will really improve the West's chances of reversing the growing momentum of the Taliban insurgency, despite the many obstacles the international coalition faces in the country.

Latest Strategic Comment: United States struggles to craft Pakistan policy

Afghan corruption: fatal or treatable?

Corruption is Afghans' biggest concern - even ahead of insecurity and unemployment. That was the chief finding of a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, launched at the ISS on19 January 2010 by UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa. The problem is huge. Afghans paid out more that $2.5bn in bribes in the past 12 months, or 23% of GDP. And those seen as most guilty are the officials entrusted with upholding the law - including police, judges, prosecutors and even MPs.

Read the report, and Antonio Maria Costa's presentation.

Maps

The IISS regularly produces maps of Afghanistan, and makes a selection of other resources available.

Key documents

The ISAF mandate and the Afghan constitution are among a sample of external reference sources.

General Stanley McChrystal addresses the IISS

The McChrystal speech

General Stanley McChrystal gave a special address on Afghanistan at the IISS in October 2009.

Afghanistan in the
IISS Military Balance

This authoritative assessment
of the military capabilities and defence economics of 170 states gives details on the foreign forces in Afghanistan, Afghan national forces and
non-state armed groups. The 2010 edition discusses counter-insurgency efforts, the 2009 presidential elections and US attempts to persuade allies to send more troops to join ISAF.

This edition is launched on 3 February 2010.

Afghanistan in the IISS Armed Conflict Database

For subscribers, the IISS Armed Conflict Database offers timelines of political, military and humanitarian developments in some 70 conflicts around the globe - all updated weekly. These are complemented by regular round-up reports, which in Afghanistan are provided every two months. Subscribers are also welcome to directly ask questions of IISS experts. For more information and a free trial, click here.