Publication

This paper first looks at the expected economic consequences of Western combat forces departing from Afghanistan in 2014. (Given that it is a rentier state, their exit will obviously have a major financial impact on the country's urban and rural populations.) The paper’s author then analyzes the country's short, medium and long-term prospects from various perspectives -- i.e., social, political, legal, economic, cultural and regional. In the case of the immediate future, the author concludes by wondering what will happen to the precarious balancing act that Afghan society has maintained between traditional social modes and Western influences.