Waterloo - Much of the current debate among scholars and practitioners surrounding the growing Afghan crisis has centered on international policy and strategy. Before the ink was dry on the London Compact and the Afghan National Development Strategy, many observers were calling for course adjustments and policy reviews. Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, in this first edition of CIGI’s Afghanistan Papers series, acknowledges the flaws in the current strategies for Afghanistan’s transition but calls for a greater focus on implementation. More attention must be dedicated to practical implementation issues such as stakeholder coordination and aid delivery structures. Changes in policy and strategy alone cannot subdue an insurgency or jumpstart a flagging state-building process; this will take a renewed focus on the authorities, practices and resources needed to produce substantive impacts on the ground. In surveying a broad range of critical issues from developing the Afghan national security forces to good governance promotion, Neumann offers insights on how to improve policy implementation in Afghanistan.

This paper is co-published with the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa.