| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Having crushed the al-Qaeda leadership, the United States and its NATO allies should exit Afghanistan without leaving behind the kind of instability that prompted their intervention in the first place. No other sub-region of the world contains such a dangerous intersection of radical ideologies, clashing interests, and regional nuclear arsenals. Further proliferation, lucrative drug corridors, and exploitable mineral wealth will make future Afghan conflicts more dangerous than ever. Yet under our current approach, the United States is failing to protect its interests as it withdraws from Afghan territory and the neighbors prepare to pounce. Although it defies current practice, the United States urgently needs not short-term but long-term thinking. Washington must craft a lasting political strategy for managing Afghanistan and the region from afar.
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