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Afghanistan

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Afghanistan has long been a crossroads of world cultures, economies, politics, and militaries. RAND's early research on Afghanistan examined the 1980s Soviet military campaign and the subsequent fundamentalist Islamic regime. Since Operation Enduring Freedom, the 2001 U.S. military effort to rout the Taliban and find Osama bin Ladin's Al Qaeda network, RAND has engaged the new Afghan government, military, and people to support reconstruction, counterinsurgency, and nation-building efforts.

Report
U.S. Policy Toward the Taliban: Engage, Isolate, or Oppose?
With the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and a growing humanitarian crisis, the United States faces several policy options. While isolation is the usual response to an unwelcome regime change, engagement offers the only prospect to advance U.S. interests in the country, mainly counterterrorism and humanitarian relief.
May 26, 2022
Commentary
Afghan Refugees Are Being Recruited to Join an Iranian Paramilitary
As Western policymakers consider how to deal with Afghan evacuees, including former members of the Afghan security forces, they might consider how to prevent adversaries such as Iran from recruiting Afghan refugees for dangerous and destabilizing operations. Greater attention to these risks may become increasingly important as refugee flows from Afghanistan continue.
Nov 23, 2021

Explore Afghanistan

Blog
A New Diplomatic Mission for James Dobbins
President Obama named Ambassador James F. Dobbins, a veteran diplomat and the current director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center, as his special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
May 7, 2013
Commentary
What Went Wrong in Afghanistan? Allowing a Sanctuary in Pakistan
Ten years after the United States helped overthrow the Taliban regime, it is remarkable that successive U.S. administrations have refused to target the Taliban safe haven in Baluchistan, writes Seth Jones.
Mar 5, 2013
Blog
The State of the Union 2013
The 2013 SOTU address will be remembered for its impassioned call for greater gun control just two months after Sandy Hook. But President Obama's second-term agenda can be characterized by its sheer breadth, reflecting the broad range of policy challenges facing the U.S. today.
Feb 13, 2013
Journal Article
The U.S. and Afghanistan After 2014
The year 2014 is a date for transition, not withdrawal, and the international community has pledged to hand over leadership for security to the Afghan government. The war is not over, and American interests in South Asia hang in the balance.
Feb 1, 2013
Commentary
Book Review: 'The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor' by Jake Tapper
Tapper spends too much time providing tactical details of battles and too little offering a nuanced, thoughtful explanation of why the U.S. Army struggled so much in Nuristan, writes Seth G. Jones.
Jan 14, 2013
Commentary
Moving Beyond Afghanistan's Soviet Legacy
In 2014, Afghanistan will hold its third presidential election since the fall of the Taliban. If the country can hold reasonably free and fair elections, and defeated candidates can agree to step aside, Afghanistan has a chance of moving beyond its Soviet legacy, writes Seth G. Jones.
Jan 10, 2013
Commentary
Generations of Terrorism
Whatever its eventual outcome, Syria's civil war has already produced thousands of experienced jihadists who will continue to threaten the region for years to come, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
Dec 13, 2012
Commentary
Afghan Drawdown Numbers May Obscure Larger Questions
The number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is only one of several important policy choices—and not necessarily the most important one, writes Seth G. Jones. For example: What will the U.S. do about the insurgent sanctuary in Pakistan?
Nov 28, 2012
Commentary
What the Soviets Can Teach Us About Leaving Afghanistan
Afghanistan will fail if it does not have a central government with enough strength, support, and willpower to maintain control of the bulk of its forces, writes Olga Oliker.
Oct 18, 2012
Commentary
Difficult Questions on Afghanistan and Pakistan
In Afghanistan, the U.S. military has been fighting the longest war in the nation's history—and many Americans don't understand why. The final presidential debate on Monday affords President Obama and Governor Romney an excellent opportunity to provide answers, writes Jonah Blank.
Oct 17, 2012
Commentary
Bringing the Taliban to the Table: Long-Term Prospects for the Afghan Peace Talks
The Afghan government and the Taliban have signaled that the United States would be the most suitable third-party interlocutor and most effective at holding the parties to their word in any agreement. Yet the U.S. must accept that the timeline must be organically determined by the Afghans and not manufactured to meet a predetermined schedule, writes Jason Campbell.
Oct 11, 2012
Commentary
The Death of a 'Butterfly' in Kabul
Like the rest of Afghanistan, these children are so easy to love, but for some so hard. And, like the rest of Afghanistan, they are largely as we have made them, through a combination of kicking and kindness that has bred dependence and resentment, without leaving much of substance, writes Rebecca Zimmerman.
Sep 13, 2012
Commentary
Afghan Training Violence: Repairing the Vetting Process Is Key
While Taliban infiltration poses an obvious threat to the Afghan Local Police program and NATO forces, the greater threat may be in exacerbating political tension between the United States and Afghanistan, writes Seth Jones.
Sep 6, 2012
Commentary
America and India: Growing Partners in Afghanistan
A comprehensive Indian military training effort in Afghanistan would balance Pakistan's own involvement in the country, build upon a decade of American achievements in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and contribute to peace and security in the region, write Larry Hanauer and Peter Chalk.
Aug 10, 2012
Testimony
Security Force Development in Afghanistan: Learning from Iraq
Today, as withdrawal looms, the United States and its partners should work with the Afghans to define what sort of police development can be realistically envisioned for Afghanistan, and devote resources and assistance to developing that into the future.
Jul 18, 2012
Blog
Building an Afghanistan Security Force: What the US Experience in Iraq (and the Soviet Experience in Afghanistan) Can Teach Us
The United States and its partners should work with the Afghans to define what sort of police development can be realistically envisioned for Afghanistan, and devote resources and assistance to developing that into the future.
Jul 18, 2012
Commentary
Indian Military Assistance Is Needed in Afghanistan
In the long run, a more robust Indian military role in Afghanistan represents one of the best ways to advance New Delhi's strategic interests while fostering Kabul's continued security and economic development after US and NATO forces begin to withdraw in 2014, write Larry Hanauer and Peter Chalk.
Jul 12, 2012
Commentary
Three Challenges Still Await NATO
Three challenges still await NATO: containing fallout from France's new policy, re-opening the Pakistan supply lines, and the need for Russian cooperation, writes Christopher S. Chivvis.
May 23, 2012
Commentary
The Next War
To prepare for the interventions to come in the next decade, the United States must adapt the lessons from its experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan and use them to generate a new, more realistic, and feasible doctrine, write Radha Iyengar and Douglas A. Ollivant.
May 7, 2012
News Release
U.S. Military's Efforts to Influence Afghan Population Have Grown Less Effective Over Time
The efforts of U.S. military information operations and psychological operations in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2010 grew less successful over time, as disenchantment with foreign occupation grew.
Apr 30, 2012

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Researcher Spotlight

Sale Lilly

Senior Policy Analyst

Sale Lilly is a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. His primary research interests are China's economic development, Chinese soft power, distributed ledger technology (Blockchain) and business best practice in military systems. He is also a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
Leslie Adrienne Payne

Political Scientist

Leslie Adrienne Payne (she/her) is a political scientist at the RAND Corporation with a combined background in social and political science and qualitative research methods. Since 2012, much of her research has focused on terrorism and counterterrorism, counterinsurgency and civilian-military…

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