The Economics of Opium and Counter-Narcotics Strategies in Afghanistan

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - by Professor Barnett Rubin, Director of Studies and Senior Fellow, Director Afghanistan Reconstruction Project, Center for International Cooperation, New York University
 

Presented by: Professor Barnett Rubin, Director of Studies and Senior Fellow, Director Afghanistan Reconstruction Project, Center for International Cooperation, New York University. Moderator/Discussant: Dr. Ali Wardak (AHDR 2007 Author), Centre for Policy and Human Development (CPHD) Date, Time and Place: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 from 10:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m. at CPHD.

Professor Barnett R. Rubin is Director of Studies and Senior Fellow at the Center for International Cooperation, New York University. In November–December 2001 he served as special advisor to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, during the negotiations that produced the Bonn Agreement. His books include Blood on the Doorstep: The Politics of Preventing Violent Conflict (2002), The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System (2002; first edition 1995), and The Search for Peace in Afghanistan: From Buffer State to Failed State (1995).

Students and lecturers of Kabul University and members of international community attending the lecture organized by CPHD

The opium economy enriches only a few. It provides livelihoods to many of Afghanistan’s poor, but an economy based on the production of illicit drugs can never foster real development. By enriching traffickers who cannot be taxed, an illicit economy starves the public sector, which alone can provide the security, education, healthcare, and rule of law that will make possible a growing legal private economy. Moreover, there are disturbing signs that the opium industry is beginning to move toward greater vertical integration, with increased involvement by international organized crime.