Publication

Since the security transition phase was officially launched by the Afghan government, NATO has been experiencing severe difficulties in creating the conditions necessary for the handover to the Afghan state. US policy and NATO’s strategy toward Afghanistan seem at least partly dead-locked. The author argues that Western policymakers have few remaining options for the second half of the security transition in Afghanistan. These include focusing on the two key players in the Afghan conflict, namely strengthening the Afghan government and weakening the senior leadership of the Afghan Taliban.